Keuka's men's volleyball team finished the season as the national leader in digs per set. Keuka, which won the NEAC's postseason championship, avergaed 12.16 digs/set (photo courtesy of Jill Nolan, Keuka College Sports Information Department).

The Keuka College men’s volleyball team captured the North Eastern Athletic Conference’s (NEAC) postseason championship in the Storm’s first year as a program.

Keuka, which posted a 12-17 overall record in 2013, earned national recognition by leading all Division III institutions in digs per set.

The Storm recorded 1,277 digs in 105 games, an average of 12.16 digs per set, narrowly edging Stevenson (Md.) University, which averaged 12.06 digs per set in the 2012-13 season.

The Green and Gold featured five student-athletes who averaged at least 1.83 digs per set, led by freshman Connor Hinman (Lethbridge, Alberta/Catholic Central), the MVP of the NEAC’s postseason tournament after recording back-to-back double-doubles.

Hinman, a first-team All-NEAC selection as an outside hitter, compiled 258 digs in 105 sets, an average of 2.46 digs/set. He led the NEAC in digs and was second in digs/set.

The Storm placed five student-athletes in the top eight of the NEAC for digs. After Hinman, Keuka was led by sophomore Manny Fernandez (Tacoma, WA/Spanaway), who recorded 205 digs in 100 sets (2.05 digs/set); freshman Christopher Mooring (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory), who recorded 203 digs in 105 sets (1.93 digs/set); sophomore Ryan Kelly (Clifton Springs, NY/Midlakes), who had 190 digs in 104 sets (1.83 digs/set) and freshman Josh Makin (Lethbridge, Alberta/Catholic Central), who had 177 digs in 93 sets (1.90 digs/set).

Fernandez (third), Mooring (fourth), Kelly (sixth) and Makin (eighth) all placed in the top 10 in the NEAC in digs.

Keuka had 11 matches with 50 or more digs, including a season-most 84 digs during a four-set win over Hilbert College March 27 and 77 digs during a five-set setback to Bard College Feb. 23.

Sophomore Jon Borchert earned third-team All-Region honors by D3baseball.com after breaking Keuka's school record for RBI and total bases in a season and matching the home run record. He batted .393, third-highest in school history (photo courtesy of Carly Volante, Keuka College Sports Information Department).

Sophomore Jon Borchert (Upper Arlington, OH/Upper Arlington) equaled the Keuka College record for home runs in a season and set school records for runs batted in, slugging percentage and total bases during the 2013 season.

On Monday, Borchert’s solid season netted the first baseman a spot on the D3Baseball.com third-team All-New York Region squad.

Borchert crushed seven home runs and drove in 42 runs while compiling 82 total bases. He batted .393 (46-for-117), the third-highest single-season batting average in school history, and his .701 slugging percentage was nearly .100 points higher than the previous mark of .607, set by Mike Mullins in 2003.

Borchert led the Storm in batting average, hits, home runs, RBI, slugging percentage and doubles as the Green compiled an impressive .305 team batting average.

Borchert, who played in and started all 31 games, also equaled Dominick Dashnaw’s mark of 11 doubles, set in 2006.

Facing Hilbert College in the regular-season finales, Borchert batted 6-for-8 with one HR and six RBI as Keuka (12-19) won the most games in a season since 2006. With his home run, Borchert matched Frank Saccone’s (2002) school record of seven home runs.

He recorded at least one hit in 25 of 31 games, including 11 of the last 12 games. During that stretch, Borchert batted .468 (22-for-47) with three HRs and 23 RBI.

To view the entire All-Region teams, click here.

The 2012-13 sports season came to an official close with Thursday night’s annual Keuka College Athletics Awards Ceremony. Keith Prestano (left) earned the Dana Schillinger Male Student-Athlete of the Year while Nicole Sharick was named the Walt Scott Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Schillinger is pictured in the middle.

By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director
The 2012-13 sports season came to an official close with Thursday night’s annual Keuka College Athletics Awards Ceremony.

Before Keuka’s student-athletes, coaches, administrators and support staff, awards were handed out for the Storm’s Outstanding Male and Female Athletes, as well as the Leadership Award, Community Appreciation Award, College Award and the Rob Smets Heart of a Champion Award.

Keith Prestano (Queens, NY/Xaverian) took home the Dana Schillinger Outstanding Senior Male Athlete of the Year; Nicole Sharick (Corfu, NY/Pembroke) received the Walt Scott Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year; senior Nate Smith (Hilton, NY/Hilton) earned the Nancy Wightman Leadership Award while classmate Sarah Hillman (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) was named the Rob Smets Heart of a Champion Award winner.

Additionally, McMichael Electrical was named the Community Appreciation Award recipient and Janice Folts, Keuka College’s business office coordinator, earned the College Appreciation award.

Keuka’s senior student-athletes were presented with their varsity “K” letters, sponsored by the Keuka College Stormwatchers Booster Club, while the Storm’s North Eastern Athletic Conference-championship squads were also recognized before a packed gym inside the Weed Physical Arts Center.

There was also a check presentation of $1,500 collected by Keuka’s student-athletes that was donated to the Keuka Comfort Care Home, a hospice home in the Penn Yan community.

Prestano, a four-year member of the Storm’s baseball team, batted .278 with two home runs and 20 RBI in 2013 as the Storm went 12-19 and won their most games in a season since 2006.

Prestano, an outfielder, hit eight doubles while scoring 12 runs and starting all 31 games in 2013. He started 93 times in 95 career games, including the last 87 games of his career. He batted .304 with 9 HRs, 65 RBI, 55 runs scored, 25 doubles and 3 triples in his career and twice earned All-NEAC honors.

Prestano finished his career ranking second all-time in doubles, fourth in home runs, fourth in RBI, seventh in games played, seventh in career at-bats, and eighth in batting average.

Sharick rewrote the women’s soccer record book this fall, smashing the school record for goals in a season and a career while equaling the most career points.

Sharick’s garnered third-team All-East Region honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. It was the first time a Storm women’s soccer student-athlete has earned All-Region honors.

Senior Nate Smith earned the 1st annual Nancy Wightman Leadership Award during Thursday night's Keuka Athletics Awards Ceremony. Wightman is pictured on the right.

Sharick earned first-team All-NEAC after leading the conference in goals (22) and points (49) and shattered the Keuka record for career goals by six. She also equaled Nicole Bondellio’s record for career points (139).

Sharick finished the season second in the country among Division III players in goals per game (1.47) and also broke her own mark for most goals in a season by five goals to earn her fourth all-conference selection of her illustrious career. She also earned a spot on the National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America’s fourth-team Scholar All-Region team in 2012.

Smith led the men’s soccer team in scoring in 2013 and capped his sensational career by earning his second straight NSCAA third-team All-East Region honors.

Smith, a first-team All-NEAC midfielder who garnered all-conference honors for the fourth time in his career, led the Storm in goals (10) and points (25) and was tied for the team lead in assists (5). Smith tied for second in the conference among goal scorers, and he was second in both points scored and game-winning goals (4).

Smith has also been a leader on and off the field. In addition to running the annual Winter Storm Madness pep rally, Smith helped organize Keuka’s first-ever Spring Storm Madness, which was a tremendous success. This past April, Smith also helped orchestrate Keuka’s annual Stick it to Cancer efforts, which raised both money and awareness for cancer research.

Sarah Hillman (left) earned the Rom Smets Heart of a Champion Award. She is pictured with Jamie Burke, women's soccer coach, and Nicole Sharick, Female Athlete of the Year.

The Rob Smets Heart of a Cham­pion award, in its 13th year, is presented to a Keuka College athlete who has overcome adversity through injury. A decorative belt buckle, complete with the Keuka College logo, was presented to Hillman, a four-year member of both the women’s lacrosse and soccer teams who has overcome numerous head injuries and concussions to graduate with a degree in adolescent mathematics education.

Despite missing most of the 2012 soccer season and all of the 2013 women’s lacrosse season with lingering symptoms from her concussions, Hillman still found ways to contribute to both squads, helping keep stats for both the soccer and lacrosse teams.

Keuka College's women's lacrosse team fell to No. 4 SUNY Cortland 23-2 Wednesday in a first-round NCAA contest. Despite the loss, the Storm (13-4) set a school-record for wins in a season.

By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director
The Keuka College women’s lacrosse team made history even before Wednesday afternoon’s first-round NCAA contest against powerhouse SUNY Cortland.

But the Storm’s sensational 2013 season came to an end with a 23-2 loss to No. 4 Cortland at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex.

Junior Taylor Smith (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) and sophomore Kaycee Maguire (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam) each netted goals as Keuka (13-4) appeared in the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time in program history.

“I am very proud of what this team was able to accomplish,” said third-year coach Kelly Lickert, whose squads have compiled a 36-8 record in her time on campus.

“To make it to this point is great and now this is a stepping stone. It’s something that we want to continue building this tradition and making it back to NCAA’s in the future. This will always be a part of our future goals, to win the conference and make it to the NCAA’s and hopefully in future years as we continue making it here we can start to win some first-round games.”

Cortland will host a four-team regional on Saturday and Sunday and will take on either Kenyon (13-2) or Adrian (16-2) in the second round.

The Red Dragons (19-1) started fast as Maria Di Fato scored twice just 27 seconds apart early in the contest.

Senior Courtney French (No. 20) and Keuka's women's lacrosse team made school history by earning the program's first-ever NCAA appearance. Keuka fell to SUNY Cortland 23-2.

Cortland extended its lead to 3-0 on Emma Hayes-Hurley’s free-position goal with 26:48 remaining in the first half, but Maguire got Keuka on the board when she picked up a groundball and fired a shot from in front of the cage that sailed into the far-right corner of the goal with 25:11 left in the opening half.

That would be as close as the Green and Gold would get against Cortland, making its 15th straight appearance in the NCAA tournament, including back-to-back Final Four trips in 2011 and 2012.

The Red Dragons scored nine goals over a span of 17 minutes in the opening half, led 15-1 at halftime and won their first-round NCAA game for the 15th straight year.

The Storm, who set a program record for wins in a season, fell for just the second time in the last 13 games.

Cortland outshot Keuka 50-5, collected 29 groundballs to Keuka’s 10 and went 21-for-27 on draw controls.

Senior Molly Hogan (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads), playing in her final collegiate game, made 13 saves for the Green and Gold.

Despite the loss, it was a banner year for Keuka. Junior Maggie Bonafede (Churchville, NY/Churchville-Chili) set a school-record with 98 points on 29 goals and a school-record 69 assists, and her 4.31 assists/game were third in the country among Division III.

Smith set a school record with 93 draw controls won, and her 70 goals were the second-most in a season in school history. The first-team All-NEAC midfielder finished with 82 points, the third-highest total in school history.

Moving forward, what advice does Lickert, whose Limestone (S.C.) teams qualified for the Division II Final Four in three of her four years, have for her student-athletes?

“I want our players to keep their heads held high, regardless of the score,” said Lickert, who will graduate four seniors.

“We need to build from this. We took a lot away from last year’s loss to Morrisville (in the NAC West championship), and we used that as revenge. From this point, we made it to the first round and now we have to build on this, to play better and be more prepared mentally and physically the next time we make it to the NCAA’s.”

Check out the latest installment of the Keuka Sports podcast, hosted by Lucas Day from WFLR Radio and John Boccacino, Keuka College's Director of Sports Information.

During the course of each academic year, Keuka College Sports Information Director John Boccacino sits down with Lucas Day of WFLR radio in Dundee to discuss the latest news and developments from the Storm’s 16 intercollegiate sports teams.

In the latest installment of the Keuka Sports podcast, Boccacino and Day discuss the success of Keuka’s lacrosse programs, as the Storm women (13-4) won NEAC’s and qualified for the program’s first-ever NCAA appearance, while the Storm men (12-1) won their third straight NEAC championship.

The podcast also examines the highlights from softball, where Keuka (17-15) advanced into the NEAC championship series before falling to host Penn State-Berks, and of the baseball team (12-19), which won the most games in a season since 2006.

The podcast is broken up into two segments. To listen to the first segment, click here. For the second segment, click here.

Junior Maggie Bonafede (left) and sophomore Ashley Swarts (right) lead Keuka's women's lacrosse team into Wednesday's first-round NCAA contest with nationally-ranked SUNY Cortland. Keuka is making its first-ever NCAA appearance while Cortland has made NCAA's the last 15 years (photos courtesy of Ed Webber, Keuka College Sports Information Department).

By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director
The task facing Keuka College women’s lacrosse team entering Wednesday afternoon’s first-round NCAA contest is daunting, but the student-athletes on the Storm are ready to make history when they play nationally-ranked SUNY Cortland at 3 p.m.

Keuka (13-3, 9-0 NEAC) is making its first-ever appearance in NCAA’s, compared to fourth-ranked Cortland (18-1, 8-0 SUNYAC), which is making its 15th straight appearance and has advanced into the Final Four in each of the last two years.

Past tournament experience means little to this year’s members of the Storm. Since suffering an 11-10 loss to fellow NCAA participant Adrian (Mich.) College on March 29, Keuka has won 11 of 12 games and is playing its best lacrosse of the year.

The women said they learned valuable lessons during their three losses, a 13-3 setback to Clarkson University, 11-10 to Adrian College and 11-4 to Utica College.

“Those tough losses definitely helped us with what we needed to work on and then we went to practice ready to work and used those lessons to make us better the rest of the year,” said junior Maggie Bonafede (Churchville, NY/Churchville-Chili), who set a school-record with 98 points on 29 goals and a school-record 69 assists and whose 4.31 assists/game were third in the country among Division III.

“Our offense is so dangerous, everyone can do something and there’s not one person I don’t trust with the ball. They can take the ball and either go with it to the cage or pass it off and get an assist. We just have so much talent that it’s hard to stop us all. We have nothing to lose, we’re just looking to go in and play hard and make some more school history if we can.”

Tickets for the first round game cost $3 for adults, $2 for students with a valid college ID.

Live streaming video as well as a live audio broadcast of the first-round NCAA game is available at http://www.cortlandreddragons.com/sports/2007/12/17/internetradio.aspx?id=63. Live stats will also be provided at http://colfax.cortland.edu/athletics/wlacrosse/live/xlive.htm.

The winner will play in a four-team regional on Saturday and Sunday and will take on either Kenyon (13-2) or Adrian (16-2) in the second round.

The site of the four-team regional will be announced after the first round is completed. The Division III national semifinals and finals will be held May 18-19 at Stevenson University in Owings Mills, Md.

In 2012, Cortland advanced to the Division III Final four before falling to eventual national champion Trinity (Conn.) College, 7-5 in the national semifinals.

The Red Dragons have won their first-round NCAA game in each of the last 14 years and advanced into the Final Four in 2006, 2011 and 2012.

Bonafede, sophomore Ashley Swarts (Arkport, NY/Arkport), junior Taylor Smith (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) and senior Molly Hogan (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) earned first-team All-NEAC honors for Keuka in 2013.

Swarts garnered the NEAC’s Defensive Player of the Year while third-year head coach Kelly Lickert earned Coach of the Year honors after another dominant season leading the Green and Gold.

Smith, a midfielder, led Keuka in goals (69) and was second in points (81). She also won a school-record 90 draw controls to go with a team-most 62 groundballs.

Sophomore Jennifer Burt (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan) was third on the team in goals (35) and points (48) while handing out 13 assists, second-most on the team.

Sophomore Olivia Hudson (Adams, NY/South Jefferson) scored 21G with 6A, junior Caroline Arancio (Clinton, NY/Clinton) had 22G and 3A while senior Sam Layton (Painted Post, NY/Corning West) added 13G and freshman Samantha Staino (Brockport, NY/Brockport) had 11G and 2A as eight student-athletes scored 10 or more goals in 2013.

Swarts caused a team-high 26 turnovers and added 34 groundballs while Hogan earned first-team All-NEAC after posting a conference-low 6.06 goals-against average.

Keuka outscored its foes 244-97 (147 goal differential) and averaged 15.25 goals per game while allowing only 6.06 goals per game, fourth-lowest in the country.

Cortland is led by Erica Geremia (55G, 56A, 111 points), Maria Di Fato (50G, 14A, 64 points) and Marilyn Farrell (19G, 29A, 48 points).

Eight different student-athletes recorded at least 15 goals as the Red Dragons averaged 15.05 goals per game while surrendering only 7.42 goals per game.

Burt and her teammates know Cortland will be the toughest, fastest, most-talented team they’ve faced all season, but added the team is excited for the chance to play on the national stage.

“At NCAA’s, we want to show that we can play great lacrosse and we’re not happy just making NCAA’s, we want to win and see how far we can go,” Burt said. “We have a lot of top scorers and it’s great that they can’t pinpoint one person to shut down. In every game we play, everyone can score for us.”

Sophomore Kaycee Maguire and the Keuka College women's lacrosse team will face SUNY Cortland at 3 p.m. Wednesday in a first-round NCAA game. This is the Storm's first NCAA appearance in program history.

By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director
The Keuka College’s women’s lacrosse team swept the North Eastern Athletic Conference’s (NEAC) regular season and postseason championships, capped by Sunday’s 20-3 win over Medaille College to secure the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament berth.

The Storm (13-3, 9-0 NEAC) will travel to face perennial power SUNY Cortland, the No. 4 team in the country, at 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon in an NCAA first-round matchup.

Click here to view an interactive tournament bracket.

Cortland, which is making its 15th straight NCAA appearance and 17th overall, went 18-1 during the regular season and claimed the program’s 15th consecutive SUNYAC championship after a 12-5 win over SUNY Geneseo in the title game.

The winner will play in a four-team regional on Saturday and Sunday and will take on either Kenyon (13-2) or Adrian (16-2) in the second round. The Storm lost a heart-breaking 11-10 contest to Adrian on March 29 after leading 9-5 with 20 minutes remaining.

The site of the four-team regional will be announced after the first round is completed. The Division III national semifinals and finals will be held May 18-19 at Stevenson University in Owings Mills, Md.

In 2012, Cortland advanced to the Division III Final four before falling to eventual national champion Trinity (Conn.) College, 7-5 in the national semifinals.

The Red Dragons have won their first-round NCAA game in each of the last 14 years and advanced into the Final Four in 2006, 2011 and 2012.

Thanks to a pair of dominant scoring performances from junior Maggie Bonafede (Churchville, NY/Churchville-Chili) and sophomore Jennifer Burt (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan), the Storm punched their ticket to the Big Dance for the first time in school history.

Bonafede, an attacker, scored a career-high 12 points on four goals with eight assists to earn Tournament MVP honors.

Burt, also an attacker, added a season-high seven goals as the top-seeded Storm jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never let up against the Mavericks.

Sophomore Kaycee Maguire (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam) added two goals and two assists while juniors Taylor Smith (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) and Caroline Arancio (Clinton, NY/Clinton) each scored twice to lift the Green and Gold to their fourth title in the tournament’s five-year history.

Bonafede, one of four members of the team to earn first-team All-NEAC, has scored a school-record 98 points on 29 goals and a school-record 69 assists to break Brandy Shafer’s (2010) previous record of 93 points.

Smith, a midfielder, led Keuka in goals (69) and was second in points (81). She also won a school-record 90 draw controls to go with a team-most 62 groundballs.

Burt was third on the team in goals (35) and points (48) while handing out 13 assists, second-most on the team. Maguire was fourth in goals (25), assists (9) and points (34) while winning 45 draw controls, second-most on Keuka.

Sophomore Olivia Hudson (Adams, NY/South Jefferson) scored 21G with 6A, Arancio had 22G and 3A while senior Sam Layton (Painted Post, NY/Corning West) added 13G and freshman Samantha Staino (Brockport, NY/Brockport) had 11G and 2A as eight student-athletes scored 10 or more goals in 2013.

Sophomore Ashley Swarts (Arkport, NY/Arkport), the NEAC’s Defensive Player of the Year, caused a team-high 26 turnovers and added 34 groundballs while senior Molly Hogan (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) earned first-team All-NEAC after posting a conference-low 6.06 goals-against average.

Keuka outscored its foes 244-97 (147 goal differential) and averaged 15.25 goals per game while allowing only 6.06 goals per game.

Cortland is led by Erica Geremia (55G, 56A, 111 points), Maria Di Fato (50G, 14A, 64 points) and Marilyn Farrell (19G, 29A, 48 points).

Eight different student-athletes recorded at least 15 goals as the Red Dragons averaged 15.05 goals per game while surrendering only 7.42 goals per game.

On Monday, Bonafede and Voigt were named Keuka’s Athletes of the Week.

Bonafede, an attacker, earned NEAC Tournament MVP honors after scoring 19 points on five goals and 14 assists to power Keuka (13-3) to the NEAC championship after a 20-3 win over Medaille College.

Bonafede, one of four student-athletes to earn first-team All-NEAC, scored one goal with six assists in Saturday’s 19-4 win over Cazenovia College in the semifinals.

Against Medaille in the title game, Bonafede recorded a career-best 12 points on four goals with eight assists to lead Keuka to its fourth conference championship in the five-year history of the tournament.

Bonafede has tallied six or more points in 11 of the last 12 games for the Green and Gold and set a school-record by scoring 98 points on 29 goals and a school-record 69 assists to break Brandy Shafer’s (2010) previous record of 93 points.

The Storm will travel to face perennial power SUNY Cortland, the No. 4 team in the country, at 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon in an NCAA first-round matchup. It is Keuka’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament.

The winner will play in a four-team regional on Saturday and Sunday and will take on either Kenyon (13-2) or Adrian (16-2) in the second round.

Voigt, a midfielder, equaled his career high with five goals and two assists as No. 1 seeded Keuka (12-1) won its third straight NEAC title, beating No. 3 Hilbert College (10-5) 17-5 at the Jephson Community Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon.

Voigt earned Tournament MVP honors after his career performance as the Storm picked up their 18th straight win against NEAC foes.

Voigt, who recorded seven points in a game for the third time in the last five games, scored 1:43 into the championship game to stake the Storm to a 2-0 lead. Hilbert answered with back-to-back goals to tie it, but Voigt fed sophomore Anthony Luppino (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan) for a goal with 5:14 remaining in the first for a 3-2 lead.

After Hilbert knotted the score with 3:28 left in the opening stanza, the Storm’s defense clamped down and held the Hawks scoreless for 15:08 while five different student-athletes scored to extend the lead to 8-3, capped by junior Connor Latimer’s (Whitby, ON/Genesee Community College) unassisted tally with 4:55 remaining in the second.

Keuka used a 12-1 run spanning the second, third and fourth quarters to seize control. The Storm blanked Hilbert 3-0 in the third as Voigt scored a pair of man-up goals. The Green and Gold went 7-for-11 with the man advantage while Hilbert was 0-for-3.

Voigt finished the year third on the Storm in goals (32) and points (46) and fourth in assists (14). He also added 20 groundballs and caused six turnovers.

Freshman Jessica Parmiter was 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI and two runs scored during Keuka's 11-5 win over Wilson College Sunday at the NEAC postseason tournament, but the Storm suffered a pair of setbacks vs. Penn State-Berks and saw their six-year reign as NEAC champions come to an end (photo courtesy of Ed Webber, Keuka College Sports Information Department).

The Keuka College softball team has captured the last six North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) postseason championships, but for the first time since 2006, a college other than Keuka will represent the conference in the annual NCAA Division III tournament.

Top-seeded Penn State-Berks (36-3) defeated the Storm (17-15) twice on Sunday to eliminate Keuka from the NEAC tournament and send the Nittany Lions into the NCAA tournament.

Keuka completed the three-day tournament 2-2, falling to Berks 9-1 in Sunday’s first game before defeating Wilson (Pa.) College 11-5 in an elimination game Sunday on the Hintz Athletic Field in Reading, Pa.

Facing Berks in the NEAC championship series, the Green and Gold scored three sixth-inning runs to pull within 6-5, but the Nittany Lions pushed across two runs in the bottom of the inning and prevailed 8-5 to earn the NEAC’s automatic berth into NCAA’s.

Junior Deliane Lessard (Rochester, NY/Greece Olympia) was 2-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored and classmate Jill Hart (Cowlesville, NY/Iroquois) was 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the second Berks game. Juniors Brooke Lovell (Arkport, NY/Arkport) and Montana McDonald (Romulus, NY/Romulus) drove in a run, as did sophomore Sara Sloan (Heuvelton, NY/Heuvelton).

Trailing 3-0 heading into the top of the fourth, Lovell hit an RBI single and Lessard lofted a run-scoring sacrifice fly to pull the Storm within 3-2.

Berks got those two runs back in the bottom of the inning and tacked on a run in the fifth to lead 6-2, but the Green and Gold refused to quit.

Hart led off the sixth with a single, advanced to second on a ground out and scored on Lessard’s double into left-center field. Sloan then plated Lessard on an RBI single into center field, and McDonald followed with an RBI single through the left side of the infield to make it a one-run game.

But the Nittany Lions capitalized on two sixth-inning errors to score twice and Keuka was held scoreless in the top of the seventh to snap the Storm’s six-year reign as NEAC champions.

In the day’s first game, Keuka suffered a 9-1 setback to Berks. Freshman Ally Muller (Bath, NY/Haverling) belted a solo home run over the center field fence, but Berks scored eight first-inning runs and held the Storm to only five hits while Keuka committed six errors.

Facing elimination, Keuka took on Wilson and handed the Phoenix their second loss of the tournament, 11-5. The Green and Gold recorded 14 hits, led by freshman Jessica Parmiter (Cortland, NY/Homer), who was 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI and two runs scored.

Hart was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, Lessard added three RBI, Sloan was 2-for-2 and Lovell was 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the win for the Storm.

Junior Katie Evangelista (Geneva, NY/Geneva) went 1-for-2 with two runs scored, two walks and an RBI and freshman Liz Warren (Elmira Heights, NY/Thomas A. Edison) earned her eighth win after allowing five runs on 12 hits in the complete game.

Trailing 1-0, Parmiter hit a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the first to give the Storm a 3-1 lead. Wilson got a run back in the second, but Lessard extended the lead to 5-2 with a two-run double in the third.

After McDonald led off the fourth with a triple, Evangelista’s single into right field plated McDonald, and Hart made the score 7-2 with an RBI single into left field.

Wilson pulled within 7-4 in the sixth, but the Storm pushed across four sixth-inning runs, sparked by Parmiter’s two-run single, to advance into the championship series against Berks.

The Nittany Lions proved to be too much for Keuka to handle, ending the Storm’s season.