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HOBOKEN, N.J. -- RIT had eight different players tally at least one goal to defeat Nazareth 14-6 in the semifinals of the women's Empire 8 conference tournament, hosted by Stevens Institute of Technology. Nazareth junior
Nora Davis tallied three goals for the Golden Flyers.
With the loss, the Golden Flyers fall to 9-8 overall. The Tigers improve to 13-4 overall with the victory and advance to play St. John Fisher, who defeated Stevens 16-12 in the other semifinal.
RIT converted three free position opportunities and surged to a 4-0 lead in the first 10:55 of the game. Junior
Melissa Brennan scored Nazareth's first goal 2:41 later, off an assist from sophomore
Michelle Cook. Davis cut the Golden Flyers' deficit to two goals as she scored a free position goal with 13:59 left in the half.
The Tigers answered with another four-goal scoring run to take an 8-2 lead with 2:15 remaining in the first half. Danielle Previ had two of RIT's goals during the scoring run, and Allie Coppola and Ashley Pezze each tallied one goal. Davis scored Nazareth's third goal 1:25 before halftime to cut the Golden Flyers' deficit to 8-3 heading into the second half.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Davis added her third goal of the game, off an assist from sophomore
Kara Kulba. Eileen Hennigan scored with 20:31 remaining in regulation to reclaim RIT's five-goal advantage, 9-4. Kulba then answered on a free position shot to bring Nazareth to within four-goals of tying the score.
The Tigers, however, tallied three consecutive goals spanning 2:01 to take a 12-5 lead with 13:57 left to play. Less than a minute later, Kulba added her second goal of the game, off an assist from Davis, to cut Nazareth's deficit to 12-6. RIT scored the final two goals to defeat Nazareth 14-6 and advance to the conference title game.
The Golden Flyers held advantages in shots (28-23), ground balls (21-19), and draw controls (12-10). RIT was very efficient on its free position opportunities as it converted five of seven free position chances for goals. Nazareth converted three of 13 free position opportunities. The Tigers' Kelsey Evans made 17 saves to earn the victory. Senior
Maria Fusco was credited with six saves for Nazareth.