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No. 14 Hartwick Turns No. 19 Brown Blue with 10-6 Eastern Championship Semifinal Victory
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Hartwick College remembers what it is like to be champion of the Collegiate Water Polo Association and move onto the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship tournament.
In 2009, the Hawks will once again have the chance to go to the sports penultimate collegiate event as Jessica McKee (So., Tustin, Calif./Laguna Beach) netted four goals and the duo of Kirsten Hudson (Jr., Wellington, New Zealand/Sacred Heart) and Sian Ellis-Tewhiu (Fr., Wellington, New Zealand/Queen Margaret College) added hat-tricks to power the No. 14-nationally ranked Hawks past No. 19 Brown University 10-6 in the semifinals of the CWPA Eastern Championship tournament at Harvard's Blodgett Natatorium.
Hartwick will seek its fourth championship tomorrow (Sunday, April 26) at 2:30 p.m. against either No. 12 University of Michigan or No. 20 University of Maryland. The Hawks previously captured Eastern titles in 2004 (5-2 W vs. Michigan), 2006 (11-8 W vs. Michigan) and 2007 (8-6 W vs. Princeton). The program is currently tied with Michigan for the second most Eastern titles in league history.
Overall, Hartwick is 2-0 against Michigan and Maryland knocking off the Wolverines 9-7 and felling the Terrapins 15-9 earlier this year.
Against Brown, the blue and white used a 4-1 scoring advantage in the second period behind a pair of markers from Sian Ellis-Tewhiu to build a 5-2 lead by halftime.
The Hawks never trailed in the game as McKee put her team on the board at 4:43 of the first period, but Brown's Sarah Glick (Jr., Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista) knotted the game at 1-1 before the end of the first eight minutes of play with an exclusion score at the one-second mark.
Ellis-Tewhiu struck at 6:22 of the second period to put Hartwick back out in front, but the Bears would not hibernate as Glick drew a kickout and buried a shot past Hawks' netminder Jessica Dorman (So., Auckland, New Zealand/Diocesan School) at 5:07 to even the scoring at 2-2.
However, Ellis-Tewhiu tacked on her second score at 3:49 to ignite a three-goal spurt by Hartwick to the halftime horn as Hudson and McKee placed shots into the back of the cage at 2:42 and 1:39 to give their team a 5-2 advantage at the midway point.
The teams traded tallies in the third period as Rita Bullwinkel (So., Portola Valley, Calif./Menlo-Atherton) cashed in an exclusion chance at 6:01, Hudson flipped in her second goal at 3:53 and Samantha Ryu (Fr., Santa Barbara, Calif./Cate School) punched in a marker at 3:21 to set the tally at 6-4 entering the fourth period.
Needing some padding to cut down the chance of a dramatic Brown run to the wire, Ellis-Tewhiu and Hudson came up with key plays scoring on an exclusion opportunity at 5:57 and rocking the cage at 5:09, respectively, to push the team out to an 8-4 lead.
Brown attempted to rally back with an exclusion goal by Rory Stanton (Sr., Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) at 5:02 and a natural-score from Glick at 4:13 to complete a hat-trick, but McKee took command ripping off an exclusion goal at 2:42 and an even-strength tally at 1:23 to set the 10-6 final score.
In cage, Dorman made nine saves to earn Player of the Game honors and Brown's Stephanie Laing (Jr., Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) blocked away 14 shots, including six in the first period.
Brown will wrap-up its season at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday as the Bears will meet the loser of the Michigan-Maryland semifinal.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| No. 19 Brown University | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| No. 14 Hartwick College | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
Hartwick Goals: Jessica McKee (4); Kirsten Hudson
(3); Sian Ellis-Tewhiu
Michigan Goals: Sarah Glick (3); Samantha Ryu; Rory Stanton; Rita Bullwinkel
Saves: Hartwick - Jessica Dorman (9) ; Brown - Stephanie Laing (14)
Ejections: Hartwick - 12 ; Brown - 5
Sprints: Hartwick - 4 (Sian Ellis-Tewhiu - 1st, Christina Evans - 2nd, Kirsten Hudson - 3rd & 4th) ; Brown - None
Jessica Dorman attempts to block a Brown shot
