No. 3 Russell Sage and No. 4 Utica Earn 2022 Empire 8 Women's Soccer Championship First Round Victories

Women's Soccer | 11/1/2022 8:11:07 PM

No. 3 seed Russell Sage College and fourth-seeded Utica University earned victories in the opening round of the 2022 Empire 8 Women's Soccer Championship Tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Russell Sage defeated No. 6 seed Alfred University, 1-0, while Utica out-lasted No. 5 Hartwick College, 2-1.

The Gators will head to No. 2 seed Nazareth College in the first Empire 8 Semifinal on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 2:30 p.m., while Utica will make the trio to top-seeded St. John Fisher for the second semifinal game at 4 p.m. Earlier this season, Nazareth earned a 2-1 win over Russell Sage at Golden Flyer Stadium on Oct. 15, while St. John Fisher and Utica played to a 2-2 draw at Growney Stadium on Oct. 12.

NO. 3 RUSSELL SAGE 1, NO. 6 ALFRED 0
The Gators, the three seed, controlled play throughout the 90 minutes, outshooting Alfred, seeded sixth, 21-4 and holding a 13-0 advantage on corners.

Despite the tilted pitch, it appeared that the matinee would need extra time to decide a winner.

That's when RSC (8-9-1) finally broke through in the 85th minute. Forward Natalie Ricci (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes), a graduate student, dribbled between and through multiple Saxon defenders into the box and sent the ball beyond the diving freshman goalkeeper Kiani Barnard-Pratt and into the bottom right corner of the net.

Goalkeeper Mickaela Buzzy (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta), a graduate student, (Win, 7-3-0) stopped three Alfred shots for her fifth shutout of the fall.

Barnard-Pratt (Loss, 5-7-4) finished with 12 saves for the Saxons (6-7-5).  

NO. 4 UTICA 2, NO. 5 HARTWICK 1
Timely goals and constant offensive pressure guided the No. 4 Utica (7-7-4) to a 2-1 Empire 8 First Round win over the Hartwick (4-8-5).
 
The Hawks began the game on the attack as the team attempted three of its five first half shots within the nine minutes of the game. Two saves by Courtney Connolly (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) and a block by a Utica defender kept Hartwick off the board early. From the 10th minute until the 45th minute, the Pioneers held full offensive control. 
 
After attempting 10 shots, including a Jenna Keeman (Douglas, MA/Douglas) free kick that sailed off the crossbar, Mikayla Kelley (Ballston Spa/Ballston Spa) came through for the biggest moment of her career thus far. Off of a nice feed from Julianna Beaulieu (Southwick, MA/Chicopee Comprehensive), Kelley went top-shelf from about 20 yards out for her first career goal to give Utica a 1-0 lead in front of its home crowd. 
 
Following Kelley's tally, the Pioneers fired off five more shots however, the team couldn't get one to drop in. That's when Nicole Cassab of Hartwick had her season-defining moment. Cassab collected the ball off a Pioneers' deflection and put the ball past Connolly to even the game 59 seconds before halftime. The score remained tied at the break. 
 
Utica wasted no time regaining the lead. Following a Rylee Lamphere (Little Falls, NY/Dolgeville) corner kick, Kaela Mochak (Westfield, MA/Westfield) cleaned up from just yards outside of the goal and put the Pioneers back on top 2-1 on what was her second goal of the season. From there, the Hawks outshot Utica 11-5 but the energy of the Utica defense kept the game in check and helped the team secure a spot in the semifinals.