St. John Fisher College’s Taylor Hughes (Watertown/Watertown) of the women’s lacrosse team has been named as the College’s Female Athlete of the Week for the week ending May 5, 2013.
The Cardinals are coming off a 2-0 week, both games coming in the Empire 8 Conference Championship. Fisher defeated No. 3 Nazareth College 12-9 in the semifinals on Saturday and No. 1 Ithaca College 11-8 on Sunday to earn its second-straight Empire 8 crown.
Hughes was named to the All-Tournament team as she finished tied for the most points in the Empire 8 Championship weekend. In the win against the Golden Flyers, the junior finished with four points on three goals and an assist. Hughes scored all three of her goals in the first half, with her feed to Tori Suto coming in the second half to give the Cardinals the largest lead they would hold in the entire contest, an 11-5 advantage with 8:56 to play.
In Sunday’s championship game with Ithaca, Hughes filled the stat sheet, having a game-high six points, four ground balls and three draw controls. The Watertown native earned her six-point day by beating the Bombers’ keeper four times while distributing for two other Fisher scores.
By winning the Empire 8 Championship, Fisher earned the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Hughes and the Cardinals will return to action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when they travel to face Liberty League Champion Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers in the first round of NCAA Championship.