ONEONTA, N.Y. - Jen Kaye (Altamont, N.Y.), Amanda Johnson (Reading, Vt.), and Nikki Weeden (Clayville, N.Y.) each scored two goals as Hartwick grounded visiting Elmira 9-0 in Empire 8 Conference field hockey action Tuesday afternoon at Wright Stadium.
The Hawks, who improved to 5-4 overall and 2-0 in the league, got all it would need at 12:23 as Jenny Murphy (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) took a pass from Amanda Barton (Endicott, N.Y.) and beat Soaring Eagle netminder Jalene McCulloch. Seconds later, Samantha Galm (Kingston, N.Y.) stretched the advantage to 2-0 at 12:58. Kaye followed with back-to-back markers at 17:39 and 18:42, the second off a pass from Lindsay Kurtz (Sherburne, N.Y.) to up the lead to 4-0. The goals were the freshman's fourth and fifth scores of the year. Hartwick closed scoring in the first half at 27:58 as Katie Cikatz (Salem, Conn.) tallied her first collegiate marker from Barton to give Hartwick a comfortable 5-0 advantage at intermission.
Like Kaye's feat earlier, it was Amanda Johnson (Reading, Vt.) that opened the second half with back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart. The junior was assisted by Kaye at 53:38, and then was helped by Annie Yager (Greene, N.Y.) at 55:23 for her third and fourth scores of the year. Following Johnson's second goal, Weeden responded with two of her own at 56:07 and 63:12 to close the game's scoring.
Hartwick's Katie Thorpe (South Windsor, Conn.), Katie Orban (South Salem, N.Y.) and MacKenzie Chapman (Niskayuna, N.Y.) collected five saves among themselves to preserve the shutout. McCulloch, who was averaging an Empire 8 Conference best shade over 15.4 saves entering the game, tallied 24 stops in 56 minutes before being pulled. Hartwick outshot the Soaring Eagles 36-8.
The Hawks return to action Saturday afternoon as they travel to square off with Nazareth. The game is set for a 1:30 start.
