Men's Soccer | 10/26/2019 3:36:00 PM
ROCHESTER, NY -- Host Nazareth used a pair of first-half goals to build an early lead Saturday and then held off a fierce charge by Houghton to take a 2-1 men's soccer victory over the Highlanders at Golden Flyer Stadium.
The Golden Flyers extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games (7-0-3) and improved to 11-2-3 overall and 4-0-1 in the Empire 8. Coupled with Elmira's 1-1 tie against St. John Fisher, the Golden Flyers clinched the top seed and home-field advantage for the upcoming Empire 8 Conference Tournament. Nazareth hosts Elmira Saturday in the final regular-season game, and the Golden Flyers will be home for the E8 Tournament Nov. 6 and again Nov. 9 if they reach the tournament championship game.
Junior Jake Adams and senior Francesco Viavattene scored for Nazareth within a five-minute stretch in the first half to provide the Golden Flyers' offense. Houghton's Ben DiCrasto scored with about four minutes left to slice the lead in half. Nazareth goalkeeper Brian Wilkin helped preserve the lead with several key stops in the second half, including a point-blank bid by Houghton's Paul Mitchell in the 53rd minute. Just seconds after that, Houghton goalie Caleb Loew returned the favor by thwarting Adams' attempt to score his second goal of the game.
Adams scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season in the 17th minute of the first half after he settled a left-wing pass from Dereck France, who gained credit for the assist. About five minutes later, Viavattene was opportunistic in getting his first goal of the season as he knocked home a rebound off a header by Justin Pumputis that had caromed off the crossbar. That lifted Nazareth to a 2-0 advantage until Houghton scored.
Nazareth finished with a 15-10 advantage in shots, while Houghton had the edge in corner kicks 8-5. Each goalie was credited with three saves.
Saturday's season finale against Elmira will start at 3 p.m. The Golden Flyers will pay tribute to seniors France, Viavattene and Wilkin prior to the game.