Men's Soccer | 4/18/2021 4:38:00 PM
The top-seeded St. John Fisher College men's soccer team made history on Sunday as the Cardinals won the Empire 8 Championship over third-seeded Russell Sage College, 3-0, in front of its home fans at Growney Stadium. With the win, Fisher claimed its second conference crown in team history and finished the 2020-21 campaign at 6-1 overall. Sage closed out its season with a 5-3 overall mark.
Freshman Matt Gentile was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player after the Walworth native produced four points including a goal and two assists in the two-game championship.
The Cardinals were first to strike in the 18th minute when Gentile delivered a pass from 50 yards out that found the foot of Brennan Brown who settled it and crossed it over to Ben Woolingham who buried a shot in the near corner to make it 1-0 in Fisher's favor.
Leading by a goal to begin the second half, head coach
Jack Burgasser's squad afforded itself some breathing room in the 47th minute after scoring on a corner opportunity. Ryan Brown was credited with the assist after his feed snuck through the Gators' back line and found Gentile on the far side as the midfielder unloaded a shot into the back of the net to make it a two-goal game.
Fisher, which also won the Empire Championship in 2016, tacked on another goal in the 72nd minute when Perri Tegas hooked a pass to Ben Conrow who toed it over to Antonio Robles who scored his second goal of the tournament and gave Fisher a 3-0 lead.
Jadon Schlierf earned his second consecutive clean sheet as the freshman made three saves over 90 minutes. The Cardinals' back line including Stephen Guidi, Drew Ksanznak and Cam Webb locked down Sage all game as Fisher yielded just five shots in all.
The 2020-21 season comes to a close for Fisher with Burgasser winning the Empire 8 title and Regular Season Championship in his first year at the helm. The Empire 8 will release its All-Conference winners on Tuesday.
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 defeats #4 Nazareth, 1-0 - STATS
#3 Russell Sage defeats #2 Houghton 1-0 - STATS
Sunday, April 18 - Championship
#1 St. John Fisher defeats #3 Russell Sage, 3-0 - STATS
2021 Empire 8 Men's Soccer Championship Tournament MVP: Matt Gentile, Fr., M, St. John Fisher