BOXSCORE |
CUMULATIVE STATSHOBOKEN, N.J. -- Top-seeded Stevens scored twice in the first half Friday and held on to defeat Nazareth, 2-1, in a semifinal match of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for men's soccer.
The Ducks, ranked 10th nationally in Division III, improved to 16-1-2 and advanced to Sunday's conference championship. The Ducks will host the winner of the other semifinal match between Utica and St. John Fisher. Nazareth is 8-8-2 overall.
"We go anywhere and believe we can win," said Nazareth Coach Danny Gilbertson, "but the reality of situation is that we were up against a good team that had only lost one game all season."
Stevens unleashed 21 shots at the Golden Flyers, who were seeking their third straight conference title. Nazareth was able to withstand the pressure until less than 10 minutes remained in the first half when Ducks senior Mike Kaiser scored following a scramble in front of Nazareth keeper Trey Barresi. Todd Sheridan and Sean Bliss collected assists.
The Ducks added a second goal with just 16 seconds remaining in the half as Sheridan redirected a pass from Bryan DeFaria to make the score 2-0.
Nazareth made some halftime adjustments and eventually capitalized on one of its few opportunities in the 67th minute as senior Paul Pacitto (Wayne Central/Ontario, NY) slipped past a defender and drilled a shot into the goal to slice Stevens' lead in half.
Nazareth was able to keep the pressure on, but never generated any more quality chances as Stevens prevailed.
"It was a tale of two halves really," Gilbertson said. "They dominated us in the first half and we were more competitive in the second half and made it more exciting."
Stevens had statistical advantages in shots (21-4) and corner kicks (11-1). Barresi was credited with six saves for the Golden Flyers.