Women's Soccer | 11/2/2019 3:08:00 PM
PITTSFORD, NY – For the first time in its history, the St. John Fisher College women's soccer team earned the Empire 8 Regular Season Championship and clinched the top overall seed in the upcoming conference championship as the Cardinals defeated Nazareth College, 2-1, in dramatic fashion at Golden Flyer Stadium. With the win, Fisher, which entered the game needing to defeat the Golden Flyers to earn the top spot, improved to 7-6-3 overall and 4-0-3 in the conference standings while Nazareth dipped to 9-5-2, 4-1-2, respectively.
First-year head coach
Molly Romano became the first coach in program history to earn the top overall seed in the Empire 8 Championship as the Cardinals will now host a semifinal game inside the friendly confines of Growney Stadium on Wednesday. The team will square off with Utica College, which earned the fourth and final seed after defeating Elmira College, 4-1, coupled with Houghton having defeated Alfred earlier in the day.
It didn't take long for the Golden Flyers to put Fisher in a hole as the home team scored in just the third minute to hold a 1-0 edge. Undeterred, Fisher began to put the pressure on Nazareth's backline as the Cardinals took nine shots and were awarded four corner kicks over the next 27 minutes.
The persistence paid off in the 37th as Abigail Dwyer delivered a perfectly placed ball to Carli Kovarik as the former Empire 8 Rookie of the year uncorked a shot into the back of the goal to knot things up at one goal aside.
As the second half got underway, the Cardinals and Golden Flyers continued to battle back and forth deep into the period. With the score still tied in the 87th minute, freshman Megan Letta put the team on her back as she broke free and sent a strike past the Golden Flyers' keeper and into the back on the net to lift the Cardinals to their first-ever regular season crown and their first win over Nazareth in nearly 30 years.
As a team, Fisher was credited with having taken 17 shots including 11 on goal. Kovarik led the field with seven shots including five on goal while Abigail Barr finished with three shots in the win. Letta had two shots including the game-winner while Logan Chase, Shiane Irwin, Chandler Stephany, Mia Tirabassi and Dwyer had one shot apiece.
In goal, Gabriella D'Ambrosio stood on her head as the sophomore moved to 4-2 on the year after coming away with five stops including four in the second half to propel Fisher to the win.