Women's Lacrosse

Hawks Outlasted by Elmira in Overtime, 13-12

ELMIRA, NY - Hartwick College's women's lacrosse team saved perhaps its best performance for last against Elmira in its season finale, but ultimately fell one goal short, 13-12, on Sunday at Campus Field in Elmira, NY. The Hawks led by five goals at one point in the second half, but a determined Soaring Eagles' team battled back to force overtime and scored the lone goal of the extra six minutes for the win.

'Wick was led by a pair of first-year players, Hannah Kennedy (Avon, CT) and Emily Walsh (Cortland, NY). The duo combined for eight Hartwick goals on the afternoon. For Kennedy, it was the third straight game with four tallies. Another first-year player, Brittany LaVaute (Skaneateles, NY), scored twice for HC and sophomore Jen Kaye (Altamont, NY) stopped 13 Elmira shots.

After six and a half minutes of scoreless action, Elmira would draw first blood scoring a pair of goals 1:15 apart for a 2-0 lead. The Hawks' defense would tighten up as it went over 13 minutes without allowing another Soaring Eagle goal. In the meantime, 'Wick's offense erupted for six tallies in an 8:23 span to take a 6-2 lead.

Walsh and Kennedy each scored two goals in the Hartwick spurt and LaVaute and sophomore Tiffanie Bishop (Shoreham, VT) added a goal each. The Soaring Eagles and Hawks would trade goals for the final nine minutes of the opening half. LaVaute tallied her second of the day with just over eight minutes to go before halftime and sophomore Grace Coppola (Scotia, NY) added a goal with 21 seconds left for an 8-4 edge. EC would gain one back just before the halftime whistle as Lindsay Mitchell tallied one of her game-high six goals with six ticks remaining.

Walsh and Kennedy extended Hartwick's advantage to 10-5 in the first 6:15 of the second half with unassisted tallies. The Soaring Eagles would slowly chip away at the deficit scoring four times in the next 13 minutes of the game to cut the lead to just one goal, 10-9.

Kennedy then netted her fourth goal of the day to break the Elmira goal-scoring string with a free position shot with nine and a half minutes remaining. Mitchell answered less than 60 seconds later and the Soaring Eagles tied the score at 11-11 with under eight minutes to go.

With just over four minutes left, the Hawks had two chances to grab the lead, but Bishop's shot went wide and Walsh's free-position shot ricocheted off the post. EC took advantage as Mitchell scored her fifth with 1:57 showing on the clock to give Elmira a 12-11 edge. The Soaring Eagles had a chance to get some breathing room with 47 seconds left but Lauren Mokes' shot was turned away by Kaye.

After 'Wick defender Briana Crow (Scotia, NY) caused an EC turnover, the Hawks got the ball down the field and Walsh finished off a free position shot with 27 seconds left in regulation to tie the score. The Hawks would get the draw and would get one final shot at the victory with eight seconds left as Kennedy drew a free position shot. Her attempt at the game-winner, however, was stopped by Elmira keeper Jalene McCullough for one of her 11 saves.

In the first three-minute extra period, the Hawks outshot EC 2-1, but neither team was able to convert. Coppola rang a shot off the post and LaVaute had a shot saved for Hartwick. Kaye denied Mokes with under 10 seconds left to keep the score level.

Mitchell's sixth goal of the day 44 seconds into the second overtime period gave Elmira the lead for good. Bishop had the only Hartwick shot 30 seconds later but she was denied by McCullough. The Soaring Eagles picked up a yellow card with one minute left to play putting them down a player, but the Hawks were unable to get another crack at tying the game up.

Crow and Kennedy finished the match with three ground balls each for Hartwick, which closes out the year 2-13 overall. Bishop tied a game-high in draws with four, and Kaye recorded a game-high four caused turnovers. Crow and LaVaute added two each.