Sydney DeVitto of the St. John Fisher College women’s soccer team has been named the College’s Female Athlete of the Week for the week ending October 7, 2012.
In a week which saw the Cardinals go 1-0-1, both pivotal Empire 8 Conference contests, DeVitto played a key role in each game.
On Saturday, coming back from a three-goal deficit by scoring four goals in 22 minutes, Fisher defeated Utica College by a final score of 4-3, a key win concerning playoff implications. DeVitto finished with six saves in the contest, keeping the Cardinals hopes alive throughout the second half.
DeVitto came up even bigger on Sunday, shutting out the Ithaca Bombers, the undefeated sixth-ranked team in the nation and one of only two teams out of 448 NCAA Division III teams to not have a loss or tie on the season going into the game. Through 110 minutes of play with two ten-minute overtime periods, Ithaca could not get anything past the senior goalkeeper.
Four minutes into the second half, she was challenged on a break away by the Bomber’s leading scorer Rachael Palladino, but made a nice diving stop to deny the shot. Eight minutes later, she was challenged again from point blank range, but blocked the attempt before a Cardinal defender cleared the rebound.
In the first overtime, an Ithaca player tried to put one above the netminder’s reach from the top corner of the box. DeVitto, however, was able to jump to get a piece of the ball before catching it in front of the goal line.
Ithaca tried two breakaways, one in each overtime period, but DeVitto came out to cut the angle of the offensive players each time, forcing the shots to go wide left.
With their performances this week, Fisher improves to 5-4-4 overall and remain undefeated at 2-0-3 in the Empire 8. They will return to action on Saturday when they host Elmira College in another conference matchup at Growney Stadium, the final home game of the season for the Cardinals where DeVitto and the rest of the seniors will be recognized on Senior Day.
