ROCHESTER, NY – Sophomore Mikaylee Whalen finished a penalty corner in the second quarter to give the Nazareth College field hockey team a lead but Hartwick College scored twice in a span of two minutes early in the third quarter and held on for the 2-1 victory Saturday in the championship game of the Empire 8 Tournament played at St. John Fisher.

Nazareth (9-12) was looking to be the first No. 4 seed since 2011 to win the title after upsetting top-seed St. John Fisher in double overtime Friday night in the semifinal game. Hartwick (13-6) was also an upset winner in the semifinals with a 3-2 win over Utica. The last No. 3 seed to win a title was Stevens in 2015.

The Golden Flyers were in their first Empire 8 Tournament since 2011 and were seeking their first title since 2007.

Nazareth took the lead against Hartwick in the second quarter after being awarded a penalty corner after a violation was whistled when senior Jennifer Hilts had her shot saved by the Hartwick goalie.

Junior Natalie L'Hommedieu lined up the corner and sent a ball outside the arc to Hilts. The senior rifled a pass in front of the net and Whalen redirected it into the back of the net for the 1-0 Nazareth lead.

In the third quarter, Hartwick controlled the early play and earned its second penalty corner of the game five minutes into the period.

A hard shot from outside the arc was deflected by a Nazareth stick and ended up in the top of the goal to tie the game at 1-1.

Just two minutes later, the Hawks continued the offensive pressure and scored as Katie Meuse dibbled along the end line toward the goal before sending a pass to the front of the goal where Allyson Quirk scored the go-ahead goal.

Late in the final quarter, Nazareth threatened to tie the game as Hilts dribbled in from just inside the midfield line and sent a shot toward the corner of the goal that was saved by the Hartwick goalie.

The Golden Flyers had one last chance with a penalty corner with 1.7 seconds remaining but the Hawks were able to clear the ball to end the game.

Sophomore Amanda Chuttey made five saves for Nazareth including four in the fourth quarter when Hartwick held a 6-1 edge in shots. For the game, the Hawks had a 14-6 shots advantage.