St. John Fisher College’s Taylor Hughes (Watertown/Watertown), a sophomore on the women’s lacrosse team, has been named the College’s Female Athlete of the Week for the week ending May 6, 2012.
This weekend, Hughes helped lead Fisher to its third Empire 8 Conference Championship with a 9-7 win over No. 1 seeded Ithaca College. In that game, the attacker scored a game-high four goals to lead her team past the reigning Empire 8 Champion Bombers. Hughes’ fourth and final goal of the day tied the game at 6-6 to take the lead away from Ithaca, as the host would never lead again.
On Saturday, Hughes had a record day, scoring a career-high nine points on seven goals and two assists to lead the Cardinals past Stevens Institute of Technology and into the championship game. Hughes scored three of her seven goals in the first half to help Fisher take an 8-5 lead into the locker room. Then, in the second half and holding just a one-goal lead, the sophomore went on a four-goal streak to put the game at 12-7 and out of reach of the Ducks. Hughes’ first goal on Saturday was also the 100th of her career, as she became the 10th Fisher player to hit the mark, taking only 34 games to do so.
After winning the Empire 8 Championship, Hughes was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Hughes currently leads Fisher in points, recording 91 on the season with 66 goals and 25 assists, both of which are team highs.
With the Empire 8 crown, Fisher will travel to Fredonia State on Wednesday to face the Blue Devils at 7 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Championship.