Women's Soccer | 11/1/2023 8:15:36 PM
Top-seed Nazareth University and No. 2 seed St. John Fisher University picked up wins in the semifinals of the 2023 Empire 8 Women's Soccer Championship on Wednesday, November 1. Nazareth defeated No. 5 seed Russell Sage, 3-0, while St. John Fisher outlasted No. 6 Alfred University, 1-0 with a last-minute goal.
Nazareth will host St. John Fisher in the 2023 Empire 8 Women's Soccer Championship match on Saturday, November 4 at 1 p.m. from Golden Flyer Stadium. The Golden Flyers are attempting to win their third straight E8 title and 13th league championship, while St. John Fisher is looking for its first league title. The two teams met in 2021 for the Empire 8 Championship, with Nazareth earning a 3-0 win.
Nazareth and St. John Fisher recently met on Oct. 11 from Golden Flyer Stadium, with the game ending in a scoreless draw. St. John Fisher goalkeeper Avery Byrnes made 10 saves, while Nazareth goalkeeper Annika Monfort stopped seven shots. Tatum Overton had six shots, including four on goal for the Golden Flyers in that contest.
Saturday's winner earns the Empire 8's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship Tournament, which begins Nov. 11-12.
NO. 1 NAZARETH 3, NO. 3 RUSSELL SAGE 0
Nazareth delivered one its finest offensive performances of the season on Wednesday, as the top overall seed defeated fifth-seeded Sage 3-0 in the Empire 8 semifinals at chilly Golden Flyer Stadium. Sophomore
Tatum Overton scored the first two goals of the game and
Grace Palczewski scored the other.
Annika Monfort picked up her eighth shutout of the season and 24th for her career.
With the win, Nazareth (7-4-6) moves on to the Empire 8 Championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Golden Flyer Stadium. Russell Sage had its season end with a 9-5-4 record.
The first half started with heavy snow flakes and cloud cover for 25 minutes before the sun began to peak out.
Overton scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 14th minute.
Olivia Foley sent in a cross from the right flank that Overton one-timed into the far post. It was Foley's second assist of the season.
The Golden Flyers controlled the flow of play for the half, holding an 11-3 shot advantage. They also had five corner kicks to 0 for the Gators.
Monfort made two of her five saves in the first half. With the shutout, Nazareth has gone over 750 minutes in Empire 8 play without allowing a goal this season.
Overton scored her second goal of the game in the 55th minute.
Lauryn Obey played a crossed in for Overton, who took a touch and placed a shot passed the Gators keeper to make it 2-0.
Nazareth made it a 3-0 game in the 68th minute off a corner kick. Obey picked up her second assist of the day as her corner was played on the ground to Palczewski at the top of the box for a one-time blast in the upper 90.
NO. 2 ST. JOHN FISHER 1, NO. 6 ALFRED 0
Kate Rachwal scored on a header off a corner kick with just 46 seconds left in regulation to lift St. John Fisher to a dramatic, 1-0 win over Alfred University in the second E8 semifinal from Growney Stadium on Wednesday evening. The Cardinals improved to 8-3-5 on the season, while Alfred had its season come to an end with a 4-6-7 mark.
The Cardinals controlled play throughout, holding a 15-2 edge in shots attempted and a 9-1 advantage in shots on goal. The Cardinals also held an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks with four in each half. The Cardinals would convert on their eighth and final corner kick of the evening. With a minute remaining, Emma Spelman fired a volley into the box from the right corner perfectly to Rachwal, who headed the ball into the top left corner of the net to break the scoreless tie.
St. John Fisher had two golden chances in the final 10 minutes prior to the goal but could not convert. Spelman fired a shot through a screen that went off the left post on a free kick before Riley Grimm had a point blank look turned aside by diving Alfred goalkeeper Kiani Barnard-Pratt.
Barnard-Pratt was excellent in defeat for the Saxons, turning aside eight shots on the evening. St. John Fisher goalkeeper Avery Byrnes made one save in the shutout win.
Grimm fired eight shots on the evening, including six on cage.
The Cardinals won their first ever postseason game at Growney Stadium and second overall in program history.
2023 Empire 8 Women's Soccer Championship Schedule
Saturday, October 28 – First Round
No. 6 Alfred and No. 3 Utica tie, 0-0 (Alfred advances on PKs, 3-2) – BOX SCORE
No. 5 Russell Sage defeated No. 4 Houghton, 3-2 – BOX SCORE
Wednesday, November 1 - Semifinals
No. 1 Nazareth defeated No. 5 Russell Sage, 3-0 – BOX SCORE
No. 2 St. John Fisher defeated No. 6 Alfred, 1-0 – BOX SCORE
Saturday, November 4 - Championship Final
No. 2 St. John Fisher at No. 1 Nazareth – 1 p.m. – LIVE STATS/VIDEO
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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