ITHACA, N.Y. -- Senior goalie Hillary Simon made a career-high 15 saves Saturday to help preserve a 0-0 tie with Ithaca as visiting Nazareth clinched the top seed for next month's Empire 8 Conference Tournament for women's soccer.
Nazareth and Ithaca each finished 7-0-1 in conference games, but Nazareth gained the top seed by virtue of goal differential (with a maximum of +3 for goals) in conference games. Nazareth is unbeaten in its last five games (4-0-1) and 10-5-1 overall. Ithaca, ranked seventh nationally, is 11-2-1 overall.
Ithaca outshot Nazareth 27-12, but Simon was equal to the challenge for the Golden Flyers as she recorded seven saves in the first half, five in the second and three more in the second overtime period to pick up her seventh shutout of the season and 22nd of her career. She lowered her goals-against average to 0.65 while elevating her save percentage to .895.
"We didn't play as well as I hoped we would, but we're excited to be hosting the Empire 8 Tournament," said Nazareth Coach Gail Mann. "They had some huge chances to score, but Hillary really came up big for us."
Jessica Platt made eight saves for the Bombers, including one on a scoring attempt by Erica Conte with less than :50 left in the second overtime to keep the game scoreless. Seconds earlier, Simon made a save on a header by Ithaca's Megan Trager, who had eight shots overall.