HOUGHTON, N.Y. – Houghton field hockey has earned the No. 3 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament and will travel to take on second-seeded Hartwick for a semifinal matchup on Friday at 4 p.m. in Oneonta, N.Y.

The Highlanders (2-3; 1-3 E8) are making their second tournament appearance (2017). Hartwick (3-1; 3-1 E8) are the defending conference champions.

Houghton opened the season with a 1-0 2OT loss to the Hawks. The Highlanders played strong defensively, despite being outshot 31-5. Houghton was hampered by two penalties in the extra sessions that force them to play shorthanded. The team got a particularly strong performance from goalkeeper Sofia Gildemeister, who made 10 saves in her first career game.

Head Coach Hannah Ogden is hoping her team shows similar resilience defensively while adding some more dangerous scoring chances this time around. "Last time we faced Hartwick we didn't pose any offensive threat," said Ogden. "We tried to keep things locked up in the defensive end but eventually ran out of steam. After a few more games of playing experience, the hope is that we'll increase our shots on goal and play a more well-balanced game."

Ogden was pleased with her team's development through the shortened season and the experience gained will pay dividends in postseason. "I think this team has done their absolute best under the circumstances," said Ogden. "With a low volume of competition experiences and a small roster, there's not a lot of opportunity to put 11 v 11 tactical training in. Each competition I've seen improvements in different areas of their game with the exception of our game against Nazareth. The growth is happening, little by little.

"We've been able to firm up some technical skills at speed that are allowing us to create a few more offensive opportunities than we were at the start of our season. I've been really impressed with the athletes' resilience this season. They've handled daily changes in stride and stayed committed to embracing the opportunity to compete. High effort is not an issue for this group."

Friday's other semifinal features top-seeded St. John Fisher vs. No. 5 Nazareth. The Golden Flyers advanced to the semifinals after a 5-2 first round win over No. 4 Utica on Wednesday. The semifinals winners will face off Sunday at the highest remaining seed.

Read the Empire 8 Tournament Preview

Visit the E8 Tournament website

The game can be followed live online with both stats and video.