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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Freshman
Alex Manchev and sophomore
Andrew Alaimo each scored a goal early in the first half to lead host Nazareth to the 2-1 victory over St. John Fisher in the Empire 8 Conference tournament semi-finals. The Golden Flyers will host two-time defending champion Stevens, Sunday at 12 p.m. in the conference title game.
With the victory, Nazareth improves to 11-4-2 overall. The Cardinals fall to 9-7-1 overall with the loss.
Manchev tallied his team-leading eighth goal of the season just 16 minutes into the game to give the Golden Flyers the early advantage. Manchev received a pass from sophomore
Chris Eccles to set up his goal at the 15:18 mark. As Manchev shot, he collided with Fisher's starting goalkeeper Adam Durst. Durst left the game, and did not return. Senior Robert Weigand took Durst's place in goal for the final 74:44 of the match.
Alaimo added Nazareth's second goal about seven minutes after the goal by Manchev. In the 23rd minute, senior Christopher Löfgren sent a pass down the right wing to Alaimo, who found the back of the net from about 15 yards away.
Bryan Canty cut the Cardinals' deficit to one goal at the 33:10 mark of the first half. Canty's goal was assisted by Luke Lennox. Less than a minute after Canty's goal, Alex Salter had an opportunity to tie the game, but sophomore
Ryan Platt made a diving save to keep the Golden Flyers ahead.
In the second half, Fisher continued to put offensive pressure on the Golden Flyers. The Cardinals had five corner kicks in the second period, and were also credited with two shots. Several other shots and scoring opportunities were broken up by Nazareth defenders. Fisher's best scoring opportunity came late in the second half when junior
Raymond Touchstone made a sliding block of a Fisher shot from inside the penalty area.
Platt was credited with seven saves for the Golden Flyers. Weigand recorded four saves for the Cardinals.
Each team recorded 12 shots. Fisher outshot Nazareth 10-5 in the first half, but Platt came up with six of his seven saves to keep the Golden Flyers in front. Nazareth held a 7-2 shot advantage in the second half. Weigand had three second half saves to keep Fisher within one goal. The Cardinals finished with an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks.
As regular season champion, Nazareth will host the E8 title game Sunday at 12 p.m. Stevens advanced to the Empire 8 finals after defeating visiting RIT 6-0 in the other conference semi-final game. Victor Daza and Nolan Sandberg scored three goals and two goals, respectively. Terrence Johnson also added one goal against the Tigers.
Earlier in the season, Nazareth traveled to Hoboken, N.J. and battled the Ducks to a scoreless tie. Platt had a career-high 13 saves for the Golden Flyers to keep Stevens off the scoreboard. Nazareth's best chance to score came in the second half, but an apparent goal by Manchev
was disallowed due to an offside call.
Sunday's game is available through
LiveStats and will be
web cast