Men’s Soccer Clinches Empire 8 Regular-Season Title With 1-0 Victory Over Rival Nazareth

PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher University men’s soccer team won its sixth consecutive game and clinched the Empire 8 Conference regular-season title outright with a 1-0 victory over crosstown rival Nazareth on Wednesday afternoon at Golden Flyer Field. 

The Cardinals, who finished the regular season 9-4-4 overall (8-1-2 Empire 8), own the top seed for the Empire 8 Conference Men’s Soccer Championship. They will face No. 8-seeded Russell Sage College at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at Growney Stadium. 

“We definitely had some gut-check moments at the end of September and early October,” head coach Jack Burgasser said. “To now think that we have rattled off six straight wins and 10 shouts – double-digit shutouts is really hard to do in a season. …You throw two cherries on top when you get to beat your rival and lock up the No. 1 seed. It was an incredibly gutsy performance and a great way to wrap up the regular season.”

The Cardinals broke the scoreless tie just more than halfway through the second half on fifth-year midfielder Joey Avallone’s team-leading sixth goal of the season. He dribbled the ball about 70 yards before firing it past Nazareth goalkeeper Logan Menna for his third goal in his last two games.

Cardinals goalkeeper Christian Burkhart, who set the Fisher single-season record for shutouts over the weekend, recorded his 10th clean sheet of the season. He made three saves, including a spectacular sprawling stop on Nazareth’s best scoring chance with about five minutes remaining in the contest.