ROCHESTER, NY – A talented St. John Fisher team lived up to their billing on Friday afternoon, as the tenth-ranked Cardinals overtook the Hartwick women's lacrosse team in the Empire 8 Semifinals, 22-3. Top-seeded Fisher, now 13-1, advances to their ninth consecutive conference title game and will look to make it nine-for-nine as they take on second-seeded Nazareth at home on Sunday. The Hawks finish their season at 3-4.
As the scoreline indicates, this one was all St. John Fisher from the get-go. They led 4-0 by the time five minutes had gone by, and kept pace with an 8-0 lead under 10 minutes in. 'Wick got their first goal at 9-0, as Emily Schaub (Brewster, NY/Brewster) was credited with the tally at 15:38 after a prolonged scramble in front of the net. The Cardinals retook control for the rest of the half, potting five more goals to take a 14-1 lead at the break. Alyssa Sproule had four of those scores, while Logan Chase added on three of her own.
The second half saw more of the same, with the Cardinals putting home six more goals before the next Hawks tally. Sproule had one of those to give her five for the game, while Kathleen Salanger had two. Schaub got Hartwick on the second-half board with 9:12 to go, depositing an Ellie Masterpole (Syracuse, NY/Westhill) dish into the net to make it 20-2. After another Sproule goal, GinaMarie Wilson (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow) got into the scoring column in her final game as a Hawk, firing an Amy Tracy (Smithtown, NY/Florida Southern College) pass into the twine.
Schaub's two tallies on two shots led the way on offense for 'Wick. She also caused one turnover on the day. Masterpole, Tracy, and Wilson were the other point-getters for the Hawks, with one apiece. Tracy had one ground ball, caused turnover, and draw control each, while Wilson led all of her teammates with five draw controls. Jennifer Paszko (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) played all 60 minutes in net, making four saves.
Sproule and Salanger each had six points for the victorious Cardinals. Sproule's came on six goals and ten shots, while Salanger had three tallies and three dimes. Sydney DeGirolamo had five points on two goals and three assists, and also led all comers with six draw controls. Chase had a solid all-around day with two goals, an assist, five draw controls, two ground balls, and one caused turnover. St. John Fisher split the day's work between two goalkeepers, as Claudia Mocciaro played the first 30 minutes and Lilly Goodsell the final half.
As the score would indicate, the Cardinals dominated every facet of the game. They outshot Hartwick 33-4, had 10 turnovers to the Hawks' 19, and were 9-of-11 on clears compared to 2-of-12 for 'Wick. The Cardinals also scooped up 15 ground balls against six for their visitors, and had a 17-9 lead in draw controls.
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