ROCHESTER, N.Y. (May 5, 2007) -- Seniors Beth Quartier (Cicero-North Syracuse/Cicero, NY) and Tia Morgia (Watertown HS/Watertown, NY) each scored four goals Saturday as host Nazareth easily defeated RIT in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for women's lacrosse, 20-3.

The top-seeded Golden Flyers won for the 11th straight time and improved to 13-1 overall. Nazareth, ranked 18th nationally, will host second-seeded St. John Fisher (13-5) Sunday in the E8 title game at 1:00 p.m. The winner gains an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Nazareth will be seeking its third straight conference title and fourth straight NCAA berth. St. John Fisher defeated Ithaca (9-7) in the other semifinal game, 14-12 in overtime.

Morgia had three goals and two assists and Quartier also scored three times in the first half as Nazareth was building a commanding lead. Senior Caitlin Zimmer (East Rochester HS/East Rochester, NY) also scored twice for Nazareth in the first half as Nazareth led 14-2 after 30 minutes.

Nazareth continued to dominate in the second half with Morgia, Quartier and Maggie Mullin scoring in the first five minutes to extend the lead to 17-2.

Nazareth dominated the game statistically, winning 21 of 25 draw controls, including five for senior Sarah Mack (Cortland HS/Cortland, NY), who also scored once for the Golden Flyers. Nazareth had a 36-22 shooting edge and sophomore goalie Maria Fusco (Immaculate Heart Central/Watertown, NY) made six saves in 46 minutes while freshman Ann Sessler (Cazenovia HS/Cazenovia, NY) was credited with three saves.

In Saturday's first game, freshman Lauren Glavin (Corcoran HS/Syracuse, NY) had six goals and one assist to lead Fisher past Ithaca. She scored with just three seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 12-12 to force overtime and scored the go-ahead goal with 4:04 to play in overtime to pace the Cardinals.

Box Score

2007-05-05