PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College field hockey team fell to the Nazareth College Golden Flyers in double overtime by a score of 2-1 Friday night in the semifinal round of the Empire 8 Championships hosted at Growney Stadium. Fisher's record on the season drops to 15-5 while Nazareth advances to the title game to face Hartwick at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Sophomore
Gianna Palma scored the Cardinals' lone goal on the day as Fisher took a 1-0 advantage in the third quarter. The four-seeded Golden Flyers tied the game late in fourth quarter and then would score another in the final minutes of the second overtime to win the game.
Fisher was in control to start the game as it controlled possession for much of the first quarter while posting four shots. In the second, junior
Bre Socker had back-to-back chances that were both denied to keep the game scoreless.
Coming out of halftime, the Cardinals were ready to take their first lead with multiple shots in the first couple minutes. Fisher got on the scoreboard when senior
Lindsay Scott worked the ball to the front of the net were there was a scramble by multiple players from each team trying to reach it. Palma was able to sweep the ball into the net for the first goal of the game.
The Cardinals carried their one-goal advantage into the fourth and looked to add more when Palma had a shot on net that was stopped. Nazareth was able to gain control of possession at the halfway point of the quarter and then scored the equalizer with less than four minutes to go.
The game would go into sudden-death overtime in a 7-on-7 format. In the first 10 minute overtime period, neither team registered a shot as players looked to be tired from the intense game that was played in below freezing temperatures. Scott got a shot off that was saved early in the second overtime frame. Then just past the halfway point, the Golden Flyers got a breakaway chance on goal. Senior
Kelly Bergamo came out and denied the Nazareth player to keep the game tied at one.
With less than two minutes to go in double overtime, Nazareth netted the game-winner that eliminated the Cardinals from the conference tournament.
Palma scored in the E8 semifinals for the second year in a row. Bergamo made three saves in net. Fisher out-shot Nazareth 17-7 with Socker having a game-high six on the night.
The E8 Regular Season Champion Cardinals now look to earn at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA will publish a press release on NCAA.com after 11:30 p.m. on Sunday that will show the selected field.
