No. 2 Nazareth and No. 4 Utica to Meet for 2022 Empire 8 Women's Soccer Championship

Women's Soccer | 11/3/2022 6:19:39 PM

No. 2 seed Nazareth College and No. 4 seed Utica University picked up wins in the semifinals of the 2022 Empire 8 Women's Soccer Championship on Thursday, November 3. Nazareth defeated No. 3 seed Russell Sage, 2-0, while Utica defeated top-seed St. John Fisher, 5-3 in the highest scoring game in E8 Women's Soccer Tournament history.

Nazareth will host Utica in the 2022 Empire 8 Women's Soccer Championship match on Saturday, November 5 at 1:30 p.m. from Golden Flyer Stadium. The Golden Flyers are attempting to win their second straight E8 title and 12th league championship, while Utica is looking for its second title and first since 2019, when they won as a No. 4 seed. Nazareth and Utica recently met on Oct. 8 in Utica, with the game ending in a scoreless draw. Nazareth goalkeeper Annika Monfort made 12 saves, while Courtney Connolly had 10 stops for Utica.

Saturday's winner earns the Empire 8's automatic berth into the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship Tournament.

NO. 2 NAZARETH 2, NO. 3 RUSSELL SAGE 0
Second-seeded Nazareth (7-4-7) broke through with a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes on Thursday, behind first-career goals from both Caroline Gee and Margaret Partlow to lift the Golden Flyers 2-0 over No. 3 Sage (8-10-1) in an Empire 8 semifinal matchup.
 
After a scoreless match through 80 minutes of play, the Golden Flyers were finally able to break through in the 81st minute on a free kick. Senior Geena Morotti blasted a cross into the box that Gee flicked on just inside the far post for the 1-0 advantage. It was Gee's first-career goal.

The Golden Flyers had another first-time goal scorer late in the game as Partlow converted an opportunity in the 89th minute. Haley Glassman fired an initial shot that led to a rebound and Partlow cleaning up the opportunity.

Nazareth finished the contest with a 15-10 edge in shots. There were just three corner kicks in the game, two from Nazareth and one from Sage.
 
Goalkeeper Annika Monfort made six saves between the pipes for her seventh shutout of the season.
 
Offense was at a premium in the first half, with a total of just six shots – 6-2 in favor of the Golden Flyers. Russell Sage, however, had the best scoring threat in the 31st minute. Kennedy Jones ripped a shot from 30-yards out that Monfort tipped off the crossbar and out.

No. 4 UTICA 5, NO. 1 ST. JOHN FISHER 3
Fueled by Julianna Beaulieu's (Southwick, MA/Chicopee Comprehensive) first career hat-trick and an overall explosive offensive outing, Utica (8-7-4) defeated St. John Fisher (8-3-6), 5-3 in the Empire 8 Conference Semifinals. With the win, Utica will appear in its fourth championship game in the last five seasons. 
 
Late in the 8th minute, Fisher capitalized on a shot that snuck past an outreached Courtney Connolly (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) for an early 1-0 lead. However, the Pioneers responded quickly just three minutes later. Jenna Keeman (Douglas, MA/Douglas) delivered a well placed ball to Julianna Beaulieu (Southwick, MA/Chicopee Comprehensive) who had the defense beat up the field. Upon receiving the ball, Beaulieu beat the charging Cardinals goalie Avery Byrnes to her right as the ball sailed into the open net to even the game. 
 
The Cardinals regained the lead in the 18th minute on a header from less than five yards out. Once again, Utica would not shy away. Following a foul drawn by Ro Hernandez (Carmel, NY/Kennedy Catholic), Keeman lined up for a free kick from about 35 yards out as the first half neared the 23rd minute. Keeman powered the ball over the defense and placed it to the left side of the net to make it a 2-2 game. 
 
On the Utica attack in the 45th minute, Beaulieu drew a penalty kick. The junior lined up and put the ball bottom-left past the diving Byrnes to give the Pioneers its first lead of the game at 3-2, which stood entering halftime. 
 
Both offenses remained silent until Beaulieu took advantage of a giveaway by the Fisher defense in the 64th minute. While deep in the Pioneers offensive zone, Beaulieu charged a pass from the Cardinals to Byrnes, picked the ball clean, and scored on a wide-open net to open the game up to a 4-2 Utica lead. Minutes later, the Pioneers iced the game on a goal by Jacinta Kaminski (Holland Patent, NY/Holland Patent) who came away with the ball on a scramble out in front of goal with an assist by Mikayla Kelley (Ballston Spa/Ballston Spa). 
 
Fisher tallied one more goal in the 83rd minute however, Utica held off any sort of comeback attempt by the regular season champions and finished the upset win. 
 
With eight combined goals, Utica and Fisher tied the record for the highest scoring game in Empire Conference Women's Soccer Tournament history.
 
The Pioneers were efficient on shot attempts as 11 of 12 looks were on goal. Beaulieu led the team with five shots on net while Keeman had three. In goal, Connolly recorded four saves in the winning effort.