ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick's field hockey season will end this weekend, win or lose. The Hawks are hoping it comes to a close with the program's third ECAC Mid-Atlantic crown. 'Wick will play in the semifinals Saturday against Alvernia at 7:30 p.m. at Sprague Field on the campus of Montclair State University.
On Wednesday the Hawks kept the season going, scoring the game-tying goal against top-seeded Wilkes with less than two minutes to play in regulation, and then won it just under nine minutes into the first overtime. The Hawks have become accustomed to overtime games with six of their 19 games this season and four of their last eight matches going to extra time.
It was a good day to be an even seed on Wednesday as the #2, #4, #6, and #8 seeds in the tournament advanced out of the quarterfinals. The Hawks' opponent in the semis, #4 Alvernia, defeated #5 Wesley via a 4-0 shutout. The host for the weekend, #2 Montclair, crushed #7 Gwynedd-Mercy 8-0. In a rematch of last season's ECAC Mid-Atlantic Championship game, #6 Catholic downed the defending champion Kean Cougars 3-1.
The Alvernia Crusaders enter their semifinal match with Hartwick sporting a 12-8 record. The team has won three straight and six of its last eight matches. Senior Janelle Lynch leads the Crusaders with 12 goals and four assists this year. Sophomore Samantha Landis has seven tallies and a team-best eight assists, and junior Ashley Tatangelo adds six goals to the offense. Sophomore Abby Eby has played all 1400 minutes in cage for the Crusaders earning eight shutouts.
Freshman Kelsey Kimble (Dingmans Ferry, PA), senior Jenny Murphy (Vineyard Haven, MA), junior Jen Kaye (Altamont, NY) provided all the offense in Hartwick's quarterfinal win over Wilkes. Kimble picked up the winner in overtime which was her fifth game-winning goal of the season. She also assisted on Murphy's goal which knotted the score at the end of regulation. Kaye earned an assist on Kimble's goal which was her team-high sixth helper of the season. Junior Mackenzie Chapman (Niskayuna, NY) gathered nine saves for her 12th win in goal. She also dropped her goals against average to just 1.19 on the year.
2009 ECAC Mid-Atlantic Tournament
Semifinals – Sprague Field, Montclair, NJ
#6 Catholic vs. #2 Montclair – 5:30 p.m.
#8 Hartwick vs. #4 Alvernia – 7:30 p.m.
Championship – Sprague Field, Montclair, NJ
Semifinal Winners – 5 p.m.
