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ONEONTA, N.Y. -- Visiting Nazareth routed Hartwick 17-4 in a women's Empire 8 Conference lacrosse game on Friday afternoon. The Golden Flyers had nine players score to overwhelm the Hawks' defense. Senior Alyssa Johnston amassed five goals in a span of 16:05 to outscore the entire Hartwick offense. Johnston leads the team with 36 goals. She also has 16 assists.

With the victory, Nazareth improves to 7-6 overall and 3-2 in conference contests. Following the loss, Hartwick falls to 4-9 overall and 1-4 in Empire 8 games.

Johnston wasted no time in igniting the Golden Flyers' attack as she tallied two goals in the opening 2:16. Nazareth scored the first seven goals of the game in only the first 8:15 to take a commanding lead. Johnston had two additional goals during the Golden Flyers' offensive assault. Seniors Erinn Wood and Megan Cregan and junior Amy McIntosh also scored during Nazareth's initial run. Wood had two assists and Johnston was credited with an assist on Wood's goal.

Kia Ference, the Hawks' second leading scorer with 21 goals, put Hartwick on the board about 10 minutes into the game. Kate Purcell also added a first-half goal for Hartwick.

The Golden Flyers finished the opening stanza with three more goals to take a 10-2 lead at the break. Cregan, Johnston, and Wood each found the back of the net to provide Nazareth with the eight-goal lead. Wood assisted on Cregan's goal while Johnston and Wood's goals were unassisted.

Less than five minutes into the second half, Wood scored her third goal of the game. Sophomore Brooke Sullivan scored her first goal of the game and 13th of the season about three minutes later to give Nazareth a 10-goal advantage.

Hartwick's Meg Luce trimmed the Golden Flyers' lead to nine goals as she scored an unassisted goal with 16:20 to play in regulation. Nazareth's offense answered with the next five goals to take a 14-goal lead, 17-3, with 3:10 remaining in the game.

Freshman Carly Gates scored only moments after Luce's goal. Two minutes later, McIntosh scored her second goal of the game and 15th of the season. The Hawks' defense was able to hold Nazareth scoreless for about eight minutes before sophomore Brianna Mancini, and juniors Kelsey McNaboe and Emily Rothrock scored in a span of 3:06. Cregan, Kayleigh Pearson, and Wood assisted on the three goals.

Ally Naja converted a free position opportunity in the closing seconds to give the Hawks their fourth goal of the game.

Junior Tara Prosak started and earned the victory with five saves and three goals against in 43:40 of action in goal. Senior Shelby Robinson recorded one save and allowed one goal in the final 16:20.

April Hargy started in Hartwick's net but only saw about four minutes of action with Nazareth's torrid offensive start. Hargy was charged with four goals against and was not credited with a save. Steph Luce played the final 55:54 in relief and accumulated 15 saves to prevent the Golden Flyers from expanding their lead even further. Luce allowed 13 of Nazareth's goals.

As expected with the lopsided score, the Golden Flyers finished with an advantage in total shots (38-16), draw controls (17-6), and ground balls (19-17). Nazareth's defense also caused frustration for Hartwick with forcing 20 turnovers. Freshman Kayla McKay, Cregan, and Johnston each finished with multiple caused turnovers. Hartwick's leading scorer, Emily Jweid, started the game with 25 goals. Nazareth's defense limited Jweid to four shots and caused her to make two turnovers.

The Golden Flyers, winners of six of their last eight contests, travel to Stevens for another Empire 8 Conference game on Saturday. The teams enter the game tied for third in the Empire 8 standings. Both teams are one game ahead of Utica and Elmira, who both stand at 2-3 in conference games.