PITTSFORD, NY – On Friday evening in the second semifinal match of the 2016 Empire 8 Field Hockey Championships, no. 3 Hartwick eyed a defeat over no. 2 Washington and Jefferson to not only reach the finals but also avenge an earlier-season loss. At Growney Stadium, the Hawks held their opponent off in the first half but would ultimately concede four goals in the second, to see their season come to an end, by a 4-0 final.

Wash. and Jeff. benefitted from its second leading scorer, Kelly Knisel, who earned the first goal of the game. Entering the 40^th minute, Claire Shaak took a penalty corner that found Amanda Steffey. Seeing a bit of light, Steffey rattled off a shot ringing off of the post. Rachel Buyan got the rebound to Knisel and she threaded her shot through a cluster of Hawks to find the back of the cage, 1-0.

The match played on 13 minutes more before the Presidents added to their advantage. On a service from Rachel Fromm, Steffey dumped the ball off to Knisel. Cutting through the pressure, she successfully ripped the ball through, resulting in her twelfth goal of the season for a 2-0 Presidents' advantage.

At 54:30, Lauren Brown tacked on her first goal of the season on the connection from Rachel Buyan. After coming in contact with the ball, the forward controlled possession until sighting a breach in the 'Wick defense. Open, she casted the shot to bring the score to three-nil.  

Amanda Steffey capped off scoring on the evening with a little under 10 minutes to go in the game. Knisel played the corner to the possession of Steffey. Able to draw out senior keeper, Jilian Sabatino (Boonton, NJ/Boonton), Steffey rolled the ball to the back of the net to round out the scoring on the evening, 4-0.

Hartwick and Wash. and Jeff mirrored nine penalty corners while the Presidents owned the Hawks in the shot department, 12-4.

Sarah Ryan (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) finished the season with a team-best nine goals and team-high five assists. Lex Richards (Northport, NY/Northport) (5), Maria Stalder (New Woodstock, NY/Cazenovia) (5), Courtney Coons (Wilton, NY/South Glens Falls) (3), Allyson Quirk (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) (3), Maxine Dunn (Peterborough, NH/Conval) (2), Emily Marcotte (Corinth, NY/Corinth) (2), Bella Wheeler (Cazenovia, NY/Cazenovia) (2), Mikaelan Stuligross (Walton, NY/Walton), Rebecca Bonini (Avon, CT/Avon), Halle Mahoney (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) and Abby White (Binghamton, NY/Windsor Central) also contributed goals this season.

Goalkeeper Shannon Carter (Falls Church, VA/J.E.B. Stuart) made 129 saves this season with a .859 save percentage.

The 13 wins from the Hawks is the most the program has seen in a single season since 2009.

Wash. and Jeff. advances to compete in the championship round tomorrow, November 5^th against top-seeded St. John Fisher.