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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Stevens Institute of Technology's Terrence Johnson scored his second of two goals with just over a minute to play in regulation Sunday to lead the Ducks to a 2-1 victory over host Nazareth in the Empire 8 Championship game for men's soccer.
The Ducks claimed the conference title for the third year in a row and gained an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with the victory. Junior
Rikesh Kotak scored the Golden Flyers' lone goal to tie the game midway through the first half.
The Golden Flyers drop to 11-5-2 following the loss. Stevens improves to 15-3-1 with the victory. The Ducks advanced to the NCAA Division III national championship game in 2008.
Johnson scored his first goal at the 16:26 mark of the first half to give Stevens a 1-0 lead. Victor Daza was credited with an assist on the play. Johnson dribbled the ball across the top of the box and past a Nazareth defender before putting his shot over sophomore goalkeeper
Ryan Platt. Johnson had two excellent opportunities to score in the fifth minute, but Platt robbed him with sprawling back-back saves at the top of the Nazareth penalty area.
Less than a minute later, senior Christopher Löfgren thought he had tied the game with a shot that got over the Ducks' goalie, Zach Carr, but Carr was able to prevent the ball from crossing the entire goal line.
The Golden Flyers connected on their next scoring opportunity in the 32nd minute of play. Löfgren sent a ball into the Ducks' penalty area, and a Ducks' defender touched it, resulting in a handball violation. Kotak scored on the ensuing penalty kick to tie the game, 1-1. Kotak's penalty kick was the first that Stevens had given up during the 2009 season.
Stevens controlled play in the early minutes of the second half. Platt was forced to make saves on a shot by Johnson and on a shot by Al Lockhart. In the 51st minute, Johnson dribbled past the Golden Flyers' defenders and put a shot off the left post from inside Nazareth's penalty area. The ball was quickly cleared by a Nazareth defender to keep the score 1-1.
The Golden Flyers' best opportunity to score came in the 85th minute when freshman
Alex Manchev took a shot from about 20 yards away that went just wide right. Nazareth maintained its momentum with continuous offensive pressure, earning the Golden Flyers a corner kick in the 88th minute. The corner kick, however, was quickly cleared by the Ducks. After the ball was cleared, the speedy Johnson created a one-on-one opportunity with Platt as the Nazareth defenders had pushed forward for the corner. Johnson put a shot over the sliding Platt to give Stevens a 2-1 lead with 1:11 remaining in regulation.
Johnson was named game MVP as he finished with both of the Ducks' goals. He had a total nine shots, eight of which that were on goal. Löfgren had a team-high three shots on goal for Nazareth, followed by Kotak with two shots on goal. The Golden Flyers' defense held Empire 8 Player of the Year Nolan Sandberg to just one shot on goal.
Platt tallied a game-high 10 saves for Nazareth while Carr finished with six saves for Stevens. The Ducks held a 19-11 advantage in shots, including a 10-3 advantage in the second half. Stevens also finished with a 3-1 edge in corner kicks.