Men's Soccer | 11/3/2021 8:03:03 PM
Top-seed Nazareth College and No. 2 seed Houghton emerged victorious in semifinal action of the 2021 Empire 8 Men's Soccer Championship on Wednesday, November 3. Nazareth advanced on penalty kicks versus No. 4 seed and defending E8 Champion St. John Fisher College, while Houghton College defeated No. 3 seed Utica College, 4-3 in overtime.
Nazareth will host Houghton in the 2021 Empire 8 Men's Soccer Championship match on Saturday, November 6 at a time to be announced from Golden Flyer Stadium. The Golden Flyers are attempting to win their second league championship in three seasons, while Houghton is looking for its first title. Nazareth defeated Houghton earlier in the regular season, 1-0 on October 27.
NO. 1 NAZARETH 1, NO. 4 ST. JOHN FISHER 1 (2OT) - NAZARETH ADVANCED ON PENALTY KICKS, 4-2
Junior
Andrew Vogler netted the winning penalty kick and sophomore
Trevor Clark made two big saves for top-seeded Nazareth Wednesday as the Golden Flyers advanced past St. John Fisher via penalty kicks, 4-2.
The game officially ended in a 1-1 tie, with Nazareth advancing to Saturday's conference championship game with the edge in the post-game penalty kick session. Top-seeded Nazareth is now 12-1-3 overall, while St. John Fisher's season ended with a record of 6-7-4.
With the teams tied through 110 minutes of soccer, including two 10-minute overtimes, penalty kicks were needed to determine advancement. In the best-of-five session, Nazareth got goals from
Cooper LaValley,
Drew Decker,
Michael Yates and Vogler. Fisher got goals from Riley Rease and Matt Gentile. Clark, meanwhile, was inserted into the lineup for the penalty kick session and produced a pair of huge saves.
After LaValley scored on Nazareth's first attempt, Clark dove to his right to save a bid by Fisher's Justin Bonetto. Decker scored on Nazareth's third attempt for a 2-1 advantage, then Clark made a second diving save -- this one to his left -- on an attempt Jeff Meyers. Yates' goal gave Nazareth a 3-1 advantage, then Matt Gentile scored for the Cardinals. Vogler then hit the clincher for Nazareth on a left-footed blast into the upper left corner.
In the regular game, Nazareth scored in the 10th minute as LaValley converted his 10th goal of the season with Decker collecting his school-record 13th assist following a cross from the left wing. In the second half, Nazareth tried to hang on to the lead, but Fisher forced overtime on a goal by Rease with less than four minutes remaining in regulation.
The overtime periods included three shots for each team, two saves for Nazareth keeper
Logan Menna and one for Fisher's Jadon Schlierf. Menna had six saves overall and Schierf had eight.
NO. 2 HOUGHTON 4, #3 UTICA 3 (OT)
Andy Loomis scored the game-tying goal with 1:44 remaining in regulation before Caleb Bailey scored late in the first overtime session to lift Houghton (8-11-0) to a wild, 4-3 win on overtime over Utica (9-7-1) in the second Empire 8 semifinal from Burke Field.
The first half was all Houghton, as they scored twice to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. Julius Klohr found the back of the net first in the 10th minute of the match, taking a beautiful centering pass from Alex Kalivoda. Isaiah Miller was able to find a goal of his own in the 26th minute. This early lead was instrumental in the confidence of the Highlanders as their defense was able to blank the Pioneers of Utica in the first half.
The second half began with Utica coming out on as the aggressor as they had a 2-0 hole to dig themselves out of. Their effort would be fruitful as Byamungu Mugushu scored two impressive goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half, tying the game at 2-2 with 25 minutes left in the game. Both teams continued to attack and attempt to create an advantage as the clock ticked down, knowing that any goal could end their opponent's season. With 10 minutes remaining the Pioneers found that advantage and Gian Rodriguez scored, giving Utica a 3-2 lead and forcing the Highlanders to need a goal in order to continue their season.
Andy Loomis was able to break free and find the back of the net with 1:44 left, ripping a rocket of a shot just inside the left post, saving the Highlanders season and sending the game into overtime!
As overtime began, both teams had chances to score the golden goal. The Highlanders secured a corner kick with just under three minutes left in the overtime session. Loomis fired the service into the box, Oscar Palacios headed it across the box and Caleb Bailey found the back of the net for the game-winner.
2021 Empire 8 Spring Men's Soccer Championship Schedule
Monday, November 1 (First Round)
#4 St. John Fisher defeated #5 Alfred, 2-1 (OT). | BOX SCORE
Wednesday, November 3 (Semifinals)
#1 Nazareth tied #4 St. John Fisher, 1-1 (Nazareth advanced on PK's, 4-2) - BOX SCORE
#2 Houghton defeated #3 Utica, 4-3 (OT) - BOX SCORE
Saturday, November 6 (Championship)
#2 Houghton at #1 Nazareth - TBA | VIDEO - LIVE STATS