Nazareth Downs Alfred in Empire 8 Opener

ALFRED, N.Y. -- Erinn Wood (Vestal, NY) scored five goals and added an assist and Leah Cronister (Brighton/Rochester) scored a career-best four goals Saturday as visiting Nazareth defeated Alfred, 15-9, in an Empire 8 Conference game at Merrill Field.

The game was the conference opener for both teams. Nazareth improved to 3-4 overall, while Alfred fell to 3-3.

Alfred's Ali Garcia scored the first goal of the game, then Nazareth scored four straight over a seven-minute stretch and never trailed thereafter. Alyssa Johnston (Canandaigua) tied the score just 10 seconds after Garcia's goal, then Cronister gave Nazareth the lead less than a minute after that.

Goals by Amy McIntosh (Horseheads) and Megan Cregan (Brighton/Rochester) followed to give Nazareth a 4-1 lead. Cronister scored two more times before the first half ended as Nazareth led 8-4 at the break.

Wood added all five of her goals in the second half, including three on free-position shots. Freshman Brooke Sullivan (Clinton, NY) and Cronister also scored in the second half for the Golden Flyers, who outshot the Saxons 37-24 and had a 20-18 advantage in ground balls. Nazareth also won 17 of 26 draw controls, with Cregan, Sullivan and Wood winning four each.

Sophomore Tara Prosak (Jamesville-DeWitt) played the first 30 minutes in goal and had three saves. Junior Shelby Robinson (Cicero-North Syracuse) played the second half and had six saves.

Nazareth resumes its conference schedule next weekend with road games at Ithaca Friday at 4:00 p.m. and at Utrica Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

2012-03-31