Men's Soccer | 11/3/2022 11:43:01 PM
No. 2 seed Medaille University and fourth seed Utica University advanced during semifinal action of the 2022 Empire 8 Men's Soccer Championship on Thursday, November 3. Medaille defeated No. 6 seed Hartwick College by a score of 3-1, while Utica advanced on penalty kicks versus No. 1 seed St. John Fisher University.
Medaille will host Utica in the 2022 Empire 8 Men's Soccer Championship match on Saturday, November 5 at 5 p.m. from Medaille Sports Complex from Buffalo Color Park. The Mavericks are attempting to win their first league championship in their first season as a member of the Empire 8, while Utica is in the title game for the first time since 2013 and is looking for its first title. Medaille and Utica played to a 2-2 draw in Utica on September 24. The Pioneers rallied from down 2-0 in the second half to earn the tie.
NO. 2 MEDAILLE 3, #6 HARTWICK 1
Ander Castillo scored a pair of goals to lead Medaille (11-1-6) to a 3-1 victory over Hartwick Thursday evening in its Empire 8 Toutnament debut. Hartwick had its season come to an end with a 6-9-3 record.
The Mavericks came out aggressive to start the game and were the first on the board at 12:43.
Rodrigo Perez (Palencia, Spain, IES Victorio Macho) passed the ball down field to
Ander Castillo (Bilbao, Spain, Mater Dei Catholic) who beat multiple Hartwick defenders and fired a shot to the back of the net right before sliding out of bounds.
Castillo had another shot on target, but a red card on Medaille at 26:47 set up a penalty shot for the Hawks. Hartwick made the penalty kick goal and tied the score up 1-1.
With less than five minutes in the half, goalkeeper
David Mighten (Nottingham, England, The Westbridgford) launched a pass deep in the Hartwick zone where
Samuel Wickins (St. Merryn, United Kingdom, Truro College) was fouled. The foul set up a penalty kick for the Mavs which was capitalized on by Castillo putting it in the top left corner for a 2-1 Medaille lead.
In the second half, the Mavs doubled their efforts on offense.
Celso Juberias (Zaragoza, Spain, Liceo Europa) and
Aaron Moretta (Penicuik, Scotland, Beeslack Community) had shots go off of the post. Castillo almost scored his third goal of the game on a breakaway which the Hawks goalkeeper saved. The Maverick defense held their ground, breaking up multiple scoring opportunities for the Hawks.
After getting fouled,
Rodrigo Fernandez (Zaragoza, Spain) added some much-needed insurance with a goal off of a free kick. The Mavericks held strong to take the win 3-1 and will advance in the Empire 8 tournament for a shot at the championship title.
NO. 4 UTICA 1, NO. 4 ST. JOHN FISHER 1 (2OT) - UTICA ADVANCED ON PENALTY KICKS, 4-2
For the first time since 2013, Utica (8-8-2) will play for the Empire 8 championship after outlasting top-seeded St. John Fisher (7-5-4), 4-2 in penalty kicks after the two teams played to a 1-1 draw.
Fisher took an early lead in the 5th minute on its first attempt of the night. The Cardinals put the ball in the corner of the box which drew Foti Xidias (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) out while the opposite attacker cut through to receive the pass and give Fisher the 1-0 advantage.
From there, Utica fired off 10 shots throughout the first half, many of which sailed high over goal. The Pioneers failed to even the score by halftime while out-shooting the Cardinals 10-3 since allowing the early goal.
The Pioneer defense continued to wreak havoc on the Fisher attack while the offense awaited an opportunity to strike. That opportunity came in the 63rd minute following a caused turnover by the Utica defense. Cody Baker-Green (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) advanced the ball past midfield before finding an open Byamungu Mugushu (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) across the field. After a pin-point dish off the foot of Baker-Green, Mugushu converted from up close to even the score at 1-1 with 27 minutes to play.
The sides battled throughout the second half until regulation proved to not enough as the game headed into overtime with the score 1-1.
In the first overtime, Utica had three shot attempts to one by Fisher however, the game shifted into a second extra frame as neither side converted. With the fog coming in heavy, the second overtime played out much like the first with the sides failing to score which forced the semifinal match to be decided in penalty kicks.
Baker-Green lined up first for the Pioneers and converted bottom-left while Fisher answered, also going bottom-left, on its first attempt even PK's 1-1. On Utica's second attempt, Noah Nassberg (Naples, FL/Gulf Coast) fired the ball top-left to put the ball past the Cardinals goalkeeper while Xidias denied the home team on its second attempt for a 2-1 edge.
Brady Barnard (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) was denied on Utica's third PK before Xidias made another save on Fisher's third as the Pioneers remained ahead 2-1 entering the fourth attempt. Brady Maloney (Ellisburg, NY/Bellville Henderson) snuck the ball under the goalkeeper's arms center-left on a crucial shot for the Pioneers to take a 3-1 advantage.
Fisher responded on its fourth attempt also to set up a decisive attempt by Mugushu. With thick fog still in the air, Mugushu fooled the out-stretched goalie, who dove to his right, and put the ball directly down the middle to end PK's at 4-2 and send the Pioneers to the championship.
On the night, Utica outshot Fisher 22-6 including 11-4 on goal. Mugushu, Nassberg and Baker-Green combined for 16 of the Pioneers' shots prior to penalty kicks. In goal, Xidias made three saves including a crucial one in the second overtime to help force the game into PK's.
2022 Empire 8 Men's Soccer Championship Schedule
Tuesday, November 1 – First Round
No. 4 Utica defeated No. 5 Nazareth, 1-0 – BOX SCORE
No. 6 Hartwick defeated No. 3 Russell Sage , 1-0 – BOX SCORE
Thursday, November 3 - Semifinals
No. 2 Medaille defeated No. 6 Hartwick, 3-1 – BOX SCORE
No. 4 Utica tied No. 1 St. John Fisher, 1-1 (Utica advances 4-2 on PKs) – BOX SCORE
Saturday, November 5 - Championship Final
No. 4 Utica at No. 2 Medaille – 4 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
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