Stevens 2, St. John Fisher 0
Senior midfielder
Edward Rupp (Sayville, N.Y.) tallied one goal and one assist to lead the fifth-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's soccer team to a 2-0 shutout win over St. John Fisher College Saturday at the De Baun Athletic Complex.
With the win, the Ducks clinch the Empire 8 regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Stevens is guaranteed to host a semifinal on Wednesday, November 6, and with a win, will host the title match.
The Ducks improved to 13-1-1 overall and 5-0 in the conference with Saturday's win. It is the ninth shutout of the year for the Ducks and the team's eighth-straight win dating back to September 28. Fisher Drops to 4-9-2 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
Stevens wasted little time finding its way on the board in this one. Senior forward
Stephen Dunbar (Johns Creek, Ga.) chased down a loose ball 35-yards away and was able to use several touches to create space and force Fisher keeper Kyle Metcalfe (Fairport, N.Y.) to come out and challenge on the left side of the box. Dunbar kept his composure before delivering a perfect cross in front to Rupp who hammered in his second marker of the season for a 1-0 lead at 9:33.
The Ducks continued to possess the ball and keep Fisher on its heels but were unable to find the back of the net on any of their three other first-half shots.
The Cardinals had one solid chance in the half when a shot off the foot of Josh Tomko (Homer, N.Y.) was deflected, forcing Stevens goalkeeper
Paul Killian (Ellicott City, Md.) to make a diving save to his right.
Fisher held a 5-4 edge in shots after one and each team created one corner.
Just 2:30 into the second half, sophomore forward
Carson Pryor (St Louis, Mo.) delivered pretty pass to Dunbar, leading the senior into the box, but Metcalfe was able to thwart the attempt to keep the Cardinals within one.
The Ducks also had a pair of chances one-on-one with Metcalfe midway through the second, but both attempts just missed, one hitting the outside of the post and the other drilling the post dead on.
Midway through the second, Fisher was able to get a corner and put some pressure on the Ducks, but it had trouble sustaining cohesive possession for the time needed for any really strong scoring chances.
Stevens had several more opportunities to extend its lead, most notably with 6:30 left, when senior midfielder
Curtis Stecyk (Niwot, Colo.) had a look on an open goal with Metcalfe out of position but his high-arching bid was headed out of harm's way for the Cardinals by midfielder Joey Plummer (Rochester, N.Y.).
The Ducks finally were able to get an insurance goal with 1:42 on the clock when Rupp changed fields with a long cross from the near sideline to the right side of the box to freshman forward
Jay Mikula (Howell, N.J.). Mikula was able to control the feed, get by a defender and drill a shot into the lower-left corner for his fourth goal of the season. It was Rupp's team-high fifth assist of 2013.
The Ducks ended the game with a 14-7 margin in shots and a 3-2 edge in corners. Killian made three saves to earn his fourth individual shutout of the season. Metcalfe recorded five denials for St. John Fisher.
Elmira 1, Houghton 0
In a fitting way to close their home schedule, the Elmira College men's soccer team upended the number
four regionally ranked Houghton College Highlanders 1-0 Saturday afternoon. Ryan Limero put an exclamation point on his senior game by scoring what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the 43rd minute.
The game was scoreless for most of the first half as much of the action was contained in the neutral area. EC did outshoot Houghton 5-4 and the added offensive pressure paid-off with less than five minutes to go in the half as Limero capitalized on his only first-half shot. The ball was played into the box where it was then flicked on by Chris Aristizabal
to a group of his teammates. Limero ripped a low, bouncing shot at net which beat Highlander keeper, Jacob Dunnett. The Soaring Eagles took the 1-0 lead into halftime.
It looked as though the Purple and Gold were going to add on another goal or two in the second half, but Dunnett made a couple quality saves to keep it a 1-0 game. As the clock ticked below 15 minutes, Houghton began to apply more pressure to score the equalizer but Elmira goalie, Nick Lapinksi was up to the task. Lapinski made six of his nine saves in the final 45 minutes while his defense challenged every Houghton player to preserve the clean sheet.
Ithaca 1, Nazareth 0
The Ithaca College men's soccer team (4-9-0, 3-2-0 E8) defeated Nazareth (5-9-0, 2-3-0 E8) Saturday afternoon, dropping the Golden Flyers by a score 1-0 at Golden Flyer Stadium. Sophomore
Blair Carney (Rochester, N.Y./Irondequoit) scored the lone Bomber goal, while junior goalkeeper
Jordan Gentile (Syracuse/Manlius-Pebble Hill) made seven saves for his second shutout of the season.
Neither team was able to score in the first half, as Gentile stopped all comers with four saves in the opening 45 minutes of play. The Bombers were also unable to convert on their lone shot on goal, sending the game to halftime in a scoreless tie.
Ithaca scored the contest's only goal in the final five minutes. Carney converted on a feed from freshman
Sean Forward (Dover, Mass./Dover-Sherborn), marking Carney's second goal of the season.
Gentile stood strong for the Bombers in the final minutes, securing the 1-0 shutout win. The victory marked Ithaca's third shutout win of the season.
Utica 1, Alfred 0
Junior
Shane Ruffing netted his first goal of the season and the eventual game-winner Saturday afternoon as the Utica College men's soccer team beat Alfred University, 1-0, in Empire 8 Conference action.
The Pioneers snapped a two-game slide to improve to 3-2 in E8 play and are now 8-9 overall on the season. UC returns home for the season finale as it welcomes Elmira College Saturday, Nov. 2nd under the lights at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium for a 7p.m. set start.
Ruffing found the back of the net just 1:47 into the contest off a dish from classmate
Kevin McAllister. The Pioneers fended off the home team for the remainder of the game. UC totaled 11 shots in the game of which five were on goal while AU fired 19 shots total and eight on goal.
Junior goalie
Anthony Caruso stopped eight shots in the crease for UC while Saxon goalie Sam Guy registered four saves in the loss.