ALBANY, NY – Looking to snap a two-game losing streak and get back above .500 for the season on Wednesday in Albany, the Hartwick women's lacrosse team came out strong, shutting out Sage, 22-0. The win, which was the first shutout for Hartwick since an 18-0 victory at Cazenovia on March 11, 2015, moves the Hawks to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in the Empire 8. The Gators drop to 2-7, with a 1-3 conference record.
Out of the gate, the Hawks fired on net. They took 11 shots in the first 6:25 of play, which resulted in four goals. Hailey Pooler (Adams Center, NY/South Jefferson) cracked the ice first, scoring off of a Rachel Hedden (Burlington, CT/Central Conn. State) pass 2:50 in. GinaMarie Wilson (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow) followed up 18 seconds later with an unassisted tally to double the Hartwick lead. Wilson and Pooler also put up the next two 'Wick goals (in that order), at 25:07 and 23:35, respectively.
Right after having her own shot saved, Amy Tracy (Smithtown, NY/Florida Southern College) helped end the Hawks short scoring hiatus, sending one to Hedden who deposited it into the net at 19:54, making it 5-0. Tracy also had the sixth Hartwick goal, an unassisted tally at 16:18. The Hawks had four more goals over the rest of the half, all solo endeavors. Wilson had two, and was joined by Jennifer Darasz (Gorham, ME/Gorham) and Emma Knapp (Canandaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman) on the scoresheet to make it 10-0 at the break.
It was more of the same in the second half. Darasz got the party started again on a free-position shot at 25:58, her 17th goal of the season. Pooler found Tracy 1:13 later to make it 12-0, and Wilson potted another at 21:24 from Darasz to give the Hawks lucky number 13. 'Wick had three more goals in a 3:07 span from 18:29 to 15:22; the first was an unassisted tally by Michaela McKernan (Branchville, NJ/High Point Regional), while the latter two were both scored by Tracy and assisted by Pooler.
Continuing the day's dominance, Hartwick had six goals over the final 13:06. Wilson had the first of those five, assisted by Pooler for a 17-0 lead. Darasz and Hedden connected just under the 10-minute mark at 9:56, with the former scoring off a pass from the latter. The next two 'Wick tallies were within a minute of each other. Pooler scored off of an assist from Wilson at 6:17 and Tracy got her fifth of the day at 5:22 (assisted by Hedden). Wilson had the last two goals for Hartwick, the first unassisted at 3:14 and the second in the final minute with 57 seconds to go, assisted by Pooler.
On the day, Wilson was the Hartwick points leader, potting a career-high eight goals on ten shots (giving her 37 for the season, the team high and among the Empire 8 leaders) and sending out one assist. She also led all players with a career-high eight draw controls, tied for the game-high of two caused turnovers, and had four ground balls. Pooler was right behind Wilson with eight points, scoring three times on seven shots and registering a season-high five assists. Tracy tied her career high of six points, scoring five times on seven shots and dishing out an assist. Hedden and Darasz each had four points; Hedden had a goal and three assists, as well as four draw controls and three ground balls, while Darasz had a hat trick on nine shots, an assist, and four ground balls. Kayla Tracey (Bardonia, NY/Clarkstown South) was the game's leader with six ground balls, also causing two turnovers. Ashley Jablonowski (Levittown, NY/Island Trees) and Jennifer Paszko (Queensbury, NY/Queesnsbury) split the game in net, each playing 30 minutes. Jablonowski had four saves and a ground ball, while Paszko made one stop.
Hartwick dominated Wednesday's affair in almost every category. They had a season-high 43 shots to Sage's seven, including a 32 to five advantage in shots on goal. 'Wick turned the ball over 17 times to the Gators' 31, and were 11-of-14 on clear attempts compared to the home team's 2-of-19. The Hawks doubled up Sage in ground balls, 32 to 16, and won a more narrow victory in the faceoff circle, at 14 draw controls to 10.
Even without any points, multiple Sage players made an impact on the game. Alexandra Lettre had five ground ball pickups, leading the Gators and one off the game high. She had two caused turnovers as well, a tie for the game high. Anne Risler and Brittany Gage tied for the team lead with four draw controls; they also had one ground ball a piece. Gage had two caused turnovers and Risler had one.
Next up for the Hawks is a battle with #15 St. John Fisher on Saturday, April 13. The Hawks and Cardinals clash at Wright Stadium with the opening draw slated for 1 p.m.
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