Field Hockey Prepares To Start Season With Home Opener Friday
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College field hockey team returned to campus early in anticipation of their 2019 season as the Cardinals begin their quest for a conference title at 5 p.m. on Friday when William Smith takes the turf inside Growney Stadium.
The Cardinals look to build on a second-straight season of 15 wins that saw head coach
Victoria Bothner's squad make a run all the way to the Empire 8 Championship Final last year. Bothner, who has led Fisher to an overall record of 73-28, has qualified for the postseason in each of six seasons and is confident that this year's team has the potential to accomplish something special.
"We are thrilled about the commitment within the program as a whole," added Bothner. "We are working towards learning and continuing to improve through change.
We are really looking forward to the upcoming games as the competition is high and that truly excites us!"
Despite losing their starting goal-minder in
Ashley Maynard and All-American forward
Lauren Fazio, the Cardinals are poised to return a wealth of talent from last year's squad that led the Empire 8 in numerous categories including goals (68), scoring average (3.4), and shots (361) while the team's .816 save percentage was the second-highest among its conference opponents.
This year's roster is well balanced with 11 underclassmen and 13 upperclassmen including
Bre Socker who will look to build on last year's breakout season that saw her post a conference-leading 118 shots to go along with 55 total points, which was second to only Fazio in the Empire 8. The junior has been a First-Team All-Region and First-Team All-Conference honoree in each of her first two years at Fisher. Socker also led the team with six game-winning goals in 2018. Through just two seasons, Socker ranks in the top five in program history for goals, assists and points.
Also returning at forward is sophomore
Gianna Palma who scored six goals and added 10 assists while starting in all 20 games during her rookie campaign last year. Palma ended up on the Empire 8 All-Conference Second Team for her impressive debut. The Cardinals second highest returning goal scorer, senior
Kelly Bergamo, enters her senior season listed as a goalkeeper and a forward.
On the defensive side, senior
Reghan Amoroso leads Fisher after earning All-Conference Honorable Mention in 2018 as the Cardinals only allowed an average of 1.30 goals per game last year. Graduate Student
Meagan McDonald also returns for her fourth season with Fisher. The defender has appeared in 54 total games over her collegiate career including appearing in every single contest the past two seasons.
Along with Bergamo and Amoroso, midfielders
Lindsay Scott and
Danila Casseri make up the Cardinals' senior class.
Fisher's junior class is by far its largest as that includes Socker as well as
Lauryn Long,
Alyssa Andres,
Katelyn Slomba,
Jess Snyder,
Abby Harris,
Olivia Rogers and
Lexi Kaplan.
Palma leads the sophomores with
Ashley Wightman,
Bridget Lenahan and
Talia Scarfino.
This year's squad has seven newcomers in freshmen
Carly Anders,
Allison Bartlett,
Lauren Swartz,
Madison Breward,
Anna Lorenzo,
Abby Richardson and
Mina Erickson.
The season is set to get underway on Friday, August 30th as the Cardinals will host William Smith in the first of four straight home events to open the year. The home stand will continue on Saturday, September 7th with St. Lawrence before SUNY Geneseo comes to town on September 11th for another non-conference tilt. From there, Fisher will close out its time at home with New Paltz on September 14th.
Following an eight-day respite, Fisher will hit the road as head coach Bothner's squad travels to Williamstown, Mass. for a date with nationally-ranked Williams College on September 22nd. Three days later, the Cardinals will continue with their tough non-conference slate as the team travels to Ithaca to duel the Bombers.
On Saturday, September 28th, Fisher returns to Pittsford to host Empire 8 rival Utica College before welcoming the University of Rochester to campus on October 1st. From there, Fisher will jump back into Empire 8 play on Saturday, October 5th with Hartwick at home before taking on a pair of SUNY schools on October 8th and October 11th in Cortland and Oneonta, respectively.
The Cardinals will make their way west to Houghton on Monday, October 14th to face off with the Highlanders in an Empire 8 contest before returning home to host The College at Brockport on October 16th.
Sage will host the Cardinals on October 18th to begin a three-game road trip as Fisher will take on last season's Division III National Champion, Middlebury College, on October 20th followed by Elmira College on the 23rd.
The team closes out its season with three games at home beginning with the reigning Empire 8 Champions from Washington and Jefferson on October 26th. Following that all-important tilt, Oswego State will visit Fisher on October 30th with the Cardinals wrapping up the regular season on November 2nd against East Avenue rival, Nazareth College.
The Empire 8 Championship, which will be played at the highest overall seed, is scheduled to begin Saturday, November 9th.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news, scores, highlights and more by downloading the official mobile app for Fisher Athletics. Just search SJFC Athletics in the App Store or on Google Play and download today for free. Follow the Cardinals on social media for more!
Instagram |
Twitter
