ONEONTA, NY – On the final day of the Empire 8 regular season, the Hartwick field hockey team took a one-goal lead over first place St. John Fisher, before closing out the first half at Wright Stadium. However, the Cardinals would settle the score early in the second to force extra time. In overtime, the visitors secured the golden goal to protect their untarnished league mark, now at 8-0. With the setback, Hartwick falls to 5-3 in conference play.

The game marked Hartwick Senior Day, where the team took the time out to recognize its 11 seniors.

Ten minutes into the contest, Hartwick was awarded its only penalty corner with senior Mikalean Stuligross (Walton, NY/Walton) as the recipient. Rebecca Reilly (Riverhead, NY/Riverhead) fired the Hawks' first attempt but it was off the mark. Freshman Allyson Quirk (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) managed to get the rebound but it too missed the cage.

'Wick's defensive prowess was seen evident in the 21^st minute. First, senior keeper Shannon Carter (Falls Church, VA/J.E.B. Stuart) rejected Emily Markarian's attempt, just her team's second of the match. Kelly Bergamo quickly locked in on the rebound but junior Lex Richards (Northport, NY/Northport) notched the defensive save before leading to another corner.  Carter went on to tally five more saves in the next six minutes to stall the Cardinals' scoring.

Later in the first half, the tide turned, this time Hartwick testing the Fisher defense. Quirk rang off two shots, both saved by Ashley Maynard. Richards then gained a quick touch getting it to Sarah Ryan (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs). Ryan jammed her goal through a swarm in front to give the Hawks the only scoring of the match heading into the break, 1-0.

Four minutes out of the intermission, Lauren Fazio tried a shot before seeing it denied. She reclaimed the ball and got it to Gabby LaForce, who provided the game's equalizer, 1-1.

For the remainder of regulation, Fisher drew three corners, two leading to misfires while Hartwick also saw three of its shots miss the mark.

In overtime, the Cardinals picked up a corner a little over a minute in. The road team was the only team to cast shots in the extra stanza. This included the golden goal from Markarian in the 74^th minute. Alexandrea Malley got contact of the ball drawing the attention of Carter. Markarian's stick found possession of the ball, she maneuvered around Carter and scored into an empty net for the winner.

Carter finished with seven saves while Maynard recorded two. Markarian attempted the most shots at Wright with five.

As the no. 1 seed, Fisher will host the 2016 Empire 8 Field Hockey Championship. Hartwick, Washington & Jefferson, Stevens, and Ithaca all finish tied for second with 5-3 records. The Presidents earn the tie-breaker over the Hawks to land the second seed with Hartwick earning the third seed. Stevens grabs the final spot. The playoffs begin next Friday, November 4^th with the Hawks and Presidents squaring off in the semifinals.