ONEONTA, NY – The Hawks soared into the playoffs this afternoon when they defeated the Gators of Russell Sage 13-4 in their final regular season game. The Hawks used their love for their seniors on Senior Day to dominate the Gators for all four quarters. Hartwick has officially clinched the fourth seed in the Empire 8 playoffs and move to 6-6 on the year 3-3 in conference play. The Gators ended their season at 5-9 and 2-4 in Empire 8 play.

With Senior Day excitement in the air, senior Emily Schaub started the scoring for the game when she scored on a free position with 13:41 left in the first. The Gators tied the game at 1, but Katrina Marten scored three consecutive free position goals throughout the quarter that got the game to 4-1 with 6:42 left in the first. Kristen Vaccarelli got on the board when Marten found her cutting through the defense, and then 24 seconds later scored off the free position to make the game 6-1 with 1:08 left in the first.

It took until the 10:14 mark in the second for the first goal to be scored, and that came from Sage who pulled closer at 6-2. Samantha Miller stood large when she saved a free position shot off her chest, and then had another big save with 7 minutes left in the second. Vaccarelli secured her hat-trick when she split dodged on her defender and then spun back, confusing her defender and scoring on the Gator keeper. Schaub got her second of the day with 3:14 left in the half when she won her one-on-one battle with the Gator keeper off a free position to make the game 8-2. Vaccarelli scored the final goal of the half with 25 seconds left on the clock when she caused a turnover on the ride and capitalized, sending the Hawks into the half up 9-2.

Just like the Gators opened the second period with the first goal of the period, they once again did that to open the third, but it was Vaccarelli with 6:39 left in the third who split dodged her defender and stung a shot past the Sage goalie. Miller had a huge kick save off a Sage free position attempt with 3:17 left in the third and continued to be a brick wall when she sent the game into the fourth after back-to-back saves in the final seconds.

Vaccarelli got the game to an eight point lead with 13:43 left when she dodged past her defender, but Sage brought the game to 11-4 on a man-up opportunity with 8:57 left in the game. Vaccarelli scored her seventh goal of the game to make the game 12-4 with six minutes left when she put her defender into a spin cycle. Miller continued to stand on her head with the game closing down when she saved back-to-back Sage shots on an odd man rush.  Hanna Goodreau scored the final goal of the day with 20 seconds left when Marten found her tip toeing on the crease.

Kristen Vaccarelli led the offensive for the Hawks with 7 goals. Katrina Marten followed behind with 3, Emily Schaub with 2, and Hannah Goodreau had 1. Samantha Miller had one of her best games of the season, saving 14 of the 18 shots she faced. 

The Hawks return to action Saturday May 7th against St. John Fisher in the Empire 8 playoffs.  St. John Fisher earned the top seed and will host the weekend tournament.  The game time will be announced later this week.

Prior to the start of the game, Hartwick recognized their two senior women's lacrosse players.  The Athletic Department, and Hartwick College, extend congratulations and best wishes on the next chapter for these nine excellent student-athletes.

#18 Kennedy Humphrey has been a member of the Hartwick Women's Lacrosse team for 3 years and currently serves on the team's Community Justice Committee as well as class rep in our Leadership Council. She currently boasts career totals of 11 groundballs and 8 caused turnovers in 15 games for the Hawks. She was named to the Dean's List for the Fall of 2019, Spring and Fall of 2020, and Spring of 2021, as well as the President's List for the Fall of 2021. In 2020, she was named Outstanding First Year in Biology as #1 in the class. She is a recipient of The Philip S. Wilder Jr. Award for Academic Distinction in 2019-2020, and she was named a Faculty Scholar in Spring of 2021. Kennedy will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a Minor in Chemistry and will move on to pursue a PhD in Cancer Sciences from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. 


#24 Emily Schaub has been a member of the Hartwick Women's Lacrosse team for 4 years. She has served for two years as the class rep for the team's Leadership Council and was named co-captain for this 2021-2022 season. She currently boasts  career tallies of 49 goals and 12 assists for a total of 61 points, as well as 42 groundballs and 27 caused turnovers in 37 games. A dual sport athlete in Field Hockey, she was named to the Dean's List in Fall and Spring of 2021 and the Presidents list  in spring of 2021. Emily will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and Sociology and will be moving on to a law enforcement track to pursue a career in the FBI.