Men's Soccer | 4/14/2021 5:32:33 PM
No. 3 seed Russell Sage College and No. 4 seed Nazareth College advanced in the opening round of the 2021 Empire 8 Spring Men's Soccer Championship on Wednesday, April 14. Russell Sage defeated No. 6 seed Alfred University, 4-1, while Nazareth advanced as its game versus No. 5 Utica College was declared a no-contest due to COVID-19 protocols.
Nazareth will make the trip down East Ave. to face top-seed St. John Fisher College to take on the Cardinals in one semifinal Friday evening at 7 p.m., while Russell Sage travels west to face No. 2 seed Houghton College in the second semifinal at 7 p.m.
NO. 3 RUSSELL SAGE 4, NO.6 ALFRED 1
Russell Sage scored four first half goals en route to a 4-1 win over Alfred University on Wednesday afternoon. With the win on Wednesday, RSC is now 4-2 overall, while Alfred’s season comes to a wrap with a record of 0-6.
RSC’s junior Christian Vaaulstuen put the Gators on the scoreboard at the 1:32 mark for his second goal of the year. Senior Jeaneste Pierre scored the next two goals for RSC at the 6:01 and 26:25 mark to give RSC a 3-0 lead. Pierre, who leads the Gators in scoring this spring and now has four goals, elevating his career total to 13 goals and 29 points.
Rookie midfielder Vinny Terrone capped the scoring with his tally at 39:25 as the Gators took a 4-0 lead into the halftime.
Alfred’s junior Mason Sanborn broke up the shutout bid with his first goal of the year at the 83:12 mark.
Sage's rookie keeper Anthony Molina made six saves with one goal allowed and is now 4-2 in net.
Looking ahead to the semifinal matchups, Nazareth handed St. John Fisher its only conference loss of the season, 1-0 in overtime on March 29, while Houghton defeated Russell Sage on April 11 in overtime by a 1-0 score.
2021 Empire 8 Spring Men's Soccer Championship Schedule
Wednesday, April 14 – First Round
#3 Russell Sage College defeats #6 Alfred University, 4-1 - STATS
#4 Nazareth College advances past #5 Utica College via No Contest
Friday, April 16 - Semifinals
#1 St. John Fisher College vs. #4 Nazareth – 7 p.m.
#2 Houghton College vs. #3 Russell Sage –
7 p.m.
Sunday, April 18 - Championship
Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2 – TBA at Highest Remaining Seed