Men’s Soccer Slips Up Against Fisher; Will Be the No. 2 Seed For E8 Championships
ROCHESTER, NY – The Nazareth men’s soccer team lost is lone conference game of the season on Wednesday at Golden Flyer Stadium, falling to East Avenue Rival St. John Fisher 1-0. The Golden Flyers needed a win or a tie to secure the Empire 8 regular season championship — with the loss, the Golden Flyers are now the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Empire 8 Tournament.
Nazareth will host No. 7 Elmira (5-8-4 overall, 5-4-2 E8) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the Empire 8 Quarterfinals. In the squads regular season meeting on October 26, Nazareth won 4-2.
The Golden Flyers are now 10-3-4 overall and 7-1-3 in Empire 8 play, while Fisher is 9-4-4 and 8-1-2, respectively.
It was also Senior Day for the Golden Flyers as 11 individuals were honored in Drew Decker, Ryan Fitzgerald, Alex Gent, Iskander Kosoko, Dominic Marino, Logan Menna, Brandon Patterson, Jake Pawlika, Alec Petocchi, Joaquin Romero, and Michael Yates.
The Cardinals generated six of their seven corner kicks in the first half, but were unable to find the back of the net. It was 0-0 at the half.
Joey Avallone eventually scored the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute, beating a Nazareth defender down the left side and firing it past a charging Menna.
Nazareth picked up the pressure late in the game, including a strong chance from Zach Scott with 10:30 remaining that was stopped by the keeper and pounced on before the rebound could be put back in.
With six minutes remaining Nazareth had a beautiful buildup that nearly ended up in a goal. A Joey Weaver cross was headed from 10-yards out by Gibson Specter but an initial save, followed by a punch out, kept Nazareth off the board.
Nazareth finished the game with a 10-9 edge in shots.
Menna had two saves in the loss.