Women's Soccer | 11/2/2024 6:13:00 PM
Top seeds SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, St. John Fisher and Nazareth University advanced to the 2024 Empire 8 Championship Tournament Semifinal round after advancing in quarterfinal action on Saturday, Nov. 2. SUNY Brockport out-lasted No. 8 Elmira College, 1-0, while Geneseo cruised to a 4-2 win over No. 7 Houghton University. St. John Fisher defeated No. 6 Alfred, 1-0 in overtime, while Nazareth earned a 1-0 win over No. 5 Russell Sage College.
No. 1 Brockport and No. 4 Nazareth will face off in the first Empire 8 Semifinal on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 4 p.m., while No. 2 Geneseo and No. 3 St. John Fisher meet in the second semifnal, also at 4 p.m. Earlier this season, Brockport defeated Nazareth, 5-0 on the road on Oct. 9, while Geneseo also went on the road and shutout St. John Fisher, 2-0 on Sept. 21.
NO. 1 SUNY BROCKPORT 1, NO. 8 ELMIRA 0
Jaylah Cossin scored with just under 20 minutes left in regulation to lift the top-seed Golden Eagles to the 1-0 win over Elmira. With the win, Brockport improves to 15-1-1 on the season, while Elmira has its season come to an end with a 5-10-2 mark.
Brockport held possession for the majority of the contest, out-shooting Elmira 29-1. The Golden Eagles had 11 corner kicks to two for Elmira.
Miranda Waterman made seven saves in goal for the Soaring Eagles, who made their first E8 postseason appearance since 2005.
NO. 2 SUNY GENESEO 4, NO. 7 HOUGHTON 2
SUNY Geneseo scored three times in a span of just under 15 minutes midway thorugh the second half to break open a tight game and earn a 4-2 win over Houghton. The Knights improved to 10-4-3 on the season, while the Highlanders had their season come to an end with a 7-9-2 mark.
Juliette Frischman tallied the natural hat-trick for the Knights, scoring second half goals in the 57th, 70th and 71st minutes. Abby Foster opened the scoring just over 12 minutes into the contest.
Houghton’s Natalie Milne and Sophia Templeton scored late in the second half to make it a 4-2 final score.
Geneseo held a 21-7 edge in shots, including a 12-4 advantage on goal.
NO. 3 ST. JOHN FISHER 1 , NO. 6 ALFRED 0 (OT)
Kate Rachwal converted a crossing feed from Emma Spelman with just 43 seconds left in the first overtime to lift the Cardinals to the 1-0 win over Alfred. St. John
Fisher improved to 11-5-2 on the season, while Alfred dropped to 7-4-6.
Rachwal crashed the net and converted on a perfect feed from Spelman to send the Cardinals to the semifinals. They defeated Alfred 1-0 in overtime in last year's E8 semifinals.
The Cardinals out-shot Alfred, 17-3 and held a 9-1 edge on corner kicks. Kiani Barnard-Pratt made seven saves in defeat for the Saxons.
NO. 4 NAZARETH 1 , NO. 5 RUSSELL SAGE 0
Sophomore
Caitlyn Smithers scored her first career goal in the 87th minute to propel Nazareth to the 1-0 victory over Russell Sage from Golden Flyer Stadium. With the win, Nazareth improves to 11-5-2 overall, while Russell Sage ends the season 6-7-5.
The Golden Flyers dominated the game in shots 19-6 but it was not until the 87th minute that they were able to break through.
Nazareth had a nice buildup out of the midfield as
Shannon Sgombick found an overlapping
Adison Fike on left flank that led to the goal. Fike sent a pass ahead to Smithers, who collected on the left side and cut in towards goal, firing a shot from just outside the 18-yard box that deflected off a Sage defender high in the air and over the Gator goalkeeper head.
Sgombick and
Taylor Ashe each had solid opportunities midway through the second half that sailed just over the cross bar.
There was only one corner kick all game which went the way of the Golden Flyers.
Annika Monfort made five saves in net to pick up her 33rd career shutout and seventh of the season. Olivia Horan made eight saves for the Gators.
2024 Empire 8 Women's Soccer Championship Schedule
Saturday, November 2 – Quarterfinals (at Higher Seed)
No. 1 SUNY Brockport defeated No. 8 Elmira, 1-0 – BOX SCORE
No. 2 SUNY Geneseo defeated No. 7 Houghton, 4-2 – BOX SCORE
No. 3 St. John Fisher defeated No. 6 Alfred, 1-0 (OT) – BOX SCORE
No. 4 Nazareth defeated No. 5 Russell Sage, 1-0 – BOX SCORE
Wednesday, November 6 - Semifinals (at Higher Seed)
No. 4 Nazareth at No. 1 SUNY Brockport – 4 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
No. 3 St. John Fisher at No. 2 SUNY Geneseo – 4 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Saturday, November 9 - Championship Final
Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal 2 -– TBA (at highest remaining seed)
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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