UTICA, N.Y. -- Senior
Emilee Rosenberg equaled a school record with four goals and sophomore
Caroline Desautels contributed one goal and three assists Wednesday as fifth-seeded Nazareth knocked off fourth-seeded Utica, 5-2, in an Empire 8 Conference playoff game for field hockey.
The victory, at Utica's Gaetano Stadium, avenged an earlier defeat and set up a semifinal date with top-seeded St. John Fisher on Friday. The Golden Flyers, at 2-3 overall, will visit the Cardinals (4-0 overall) at Growney Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Utica finishes the season at 1-4 overall. The Pioneers had beaten the Golden Flyers, 2-1 in overtime, back on March 28.
Against the Pioneers, the Golden Flyers, despite being outshot 8-5, scored three times in the first half and Utica was unable to recover. The Pioneers scored before the first half ended, but the Golden Flyers added a goal in the third quarter and another in the fourth to preserve the lead and the victory.
Rosenberg's first goal came early into the opening quarter as a 2-on-1 break resulted in a nice give-and-go from Desautels to Rosenberg for the tally.
Desautels and Rosenberg each scored in the second quarter to extend Nazareth's lead to 3-0. Utica got on the board just about a minute after Rosenberg's second goal to trim the Nazareth lead to 3-1 before halftime.
Rosenberg's third goal came midway through the third quarter as she converted a pass from
Grace Kelleher. After Utica scored to make it 4-2, Rosenberg struck again in transition as she was able to one-time a pass from Desautels for her fourth goal of the game and team-best fifth of the season.
It marked the fourth time that a Nazareth field hockey player has notched four goals in a game. Catherine Willard did it twice -- in 2014 and 2015 -- and Cheryl Hoda did it initially in 1999.
Shots ended up in Utica's favor, 13-10. Utica also had six penalty corners to Nazareth's five. Junior
Amanda Chuttey played all 60 minutes in goal and made seven saves for Nazareth.
Friday's meeting will be Nazareth's second against St. John Fisher in less than a week. The teams played last Sunday at Nazareth with the Cardinals taking a 4-0 win. The E8 championship game is Sunday.
