Men's Soccer | 11/1/2021 9:50:00 PM
St. John Fisher's Ben Woolingham played the hero on Monday night as he scored two goals to propel the fourth-seeded Cardinals to a 2-1 overtime victory over fifth-seeded Alfred University in the opening round of the Empire 8 Championship at Growney Stadium. The Cardinals, who won the Empire 8 title this past spring, will travel to top-seeded Nazareth College at 2 p.m. on Wednesday with a spot in the conference finale up for grabs.
Fisher improved to 6-7-3 on the season with the win, while the Saxons had their season come to a close at 4-11-2.
After nearly 72 minutes of back-and-forth play, Alfred would break the deadlock as the Saxons worked the ball along the end line before henry Smith fired a perfect centering pass that was deflected into the goal by William Moore to make it a 1-0 contest.
Trailing by a goal with time running out in regulation, Fisher's pace quickened as Matt Gentile secured a loose ball near midfield in the 85th minute and delivered a perfect ball to Woolingham who broke loose and sent a shot into the corner of the goal to level the contest at one goal aside.
With the game still tied after 90 minutes of play, Fisher looked to carry its momentum into the extra period. After coming away with a save just 33 seconds into overtime, Fisher would eventually gain possession at midfield in the 98th minute as Trevor Heschke boomed a ball from 30 yards out that Jackson Bishop tapped to Woolingham in the middle of the box. From there, the forward found a seam and unloaded a shot past the Saxons' keeper and into the back of the net to send Fisher to the semifinal round of the Championship.
In all, the Cardinals took nine shots led by Woolingham who had three on the night. Antonio Robles had two shots in the win while Ryan Brown, Mack Etoll and Bishop had one apiece.
Jadon Schlierf played all 98 minutes in goal and improved to 6-7-3 overall. The sophomore made four saves in all – all of which came in the second half and overtime.
St. John Fisher and Nazareth played to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 20 at Growney Stadium. Jake Pawlika scored early to give Nazareth a 1-0 lead before Riley Rease tied the game in the 77th minute.