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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth scored three goals in the second half to defeat visiting St. John Fisher in a women's Empire 8 Conference soccer game on Wednesday afternoon. Senior Olivia Derleth and juniors Ashtin Argentieri and Elizabeth Howell scored for the Golden Flyers.

With the victory, Nazareth improves to 9-4-2 overall and 5-1 in Empire 8 Conference contests. The Cardinals drop to 8-9 overall and 3-2 in conference games following the loss. The victory marked Nazareth's 24th win in 28 meetings against Fisher. Last season, the teams battled to a 1-1 tie in a game played at St. John Fisher.

After a scoreless first half, the Golden Flyers converted a corner kick opportunity into a goal to break the tie. At the 52:56 mark of regulation, senior Julia Teran Pulford placed her corner kick at the far post for Derleth. Derleth popped her header over the Cardinals' goalie, Brooke Seavitt. Derleth now has seven goals to lead the team.

About 20 minutes later, Nazareth added an insurance goal following crisp passing in Fisher's 18-yard box. Howell and sophomore Briana Vibbard beat the Cardinals' defenders, and after passing to each other, found Argentieri who made a run into the box. Argentieri converted the scoring opportunity with a shot to the left of Seavitt.

The Golden Flyers struck less than four minutes later to add a third goal. With 13 minutes to play in regulation, freshman Elisa Marchione lofted a pass into Nazareth's offensive area for Howell. With Seavitt leaving her net in an attempt to collect the ball, Howell was able to pop a shot over Seavitt before the goalie reached it. Howell's touch was on target and bounced into the open net. With her goal and assist, Howell moves into second on the team in scoring with eight total points on three goals and two assists.

After allowing Fisher to control the action through much of the first half, Nazareth's defense tightened in the second 45 minutes. The Golden Flyers allowed the Cardinals a shot in the first 75 seconds of the second half, then held Fisher to only one shot until there was less than 20 minutes remaining in regulation. Nazareth also held Fisher without a shot for the final 7:21 to ensure the victory.

The Golden Flyers had two scoring opportunities in the first half. The first was in the opening minutes when a corner kick by Teran Pulford curved toward the Cardinals' goal. The second followed a determined effort by Howell roughly 11 minutes into the contest. Howell stole the ball from a Fisher defender deep inside the Cardinals' box then put a shot on goal, but it was defelcted over the crossbar.

Fisher's best chances in the opening stanza were thwarted by Nazareth defenders and saves by senior Bethany Novak. Sixteen minutes into regulation senior Sarah Cipperly blocked a shot by Fisher's leading scorer Alex Rohloff. Rohloff entered the game with nine goals and was held to only one shot on goal. The second scoring chance was about two minutes later when freshman Jessica Barden knocked the ball away from the Cardinals' second leading scorer, Chelsea Oberkrieser. Inside Nazareth's box, Barden came from behind to knock the ball away before Oberkrieser released a shot.

The Golden Flyers finished with a 14-12 advantage in total shots, including an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal. Nazareth also had a 4-3 edge in corner kick opportunities. Novak finished with five saves to record the shutout. Seavitt was also credited with five saves.

The Golden Flyers are in action again Saturday at 6:30 p.m. for an Empire 8 Conference game at Utica. Saturday's game will be broadcast on television by Time Warner Cable Sports. The game will appear in Albany (Channel 1), Buffalo (Channel 87), Rochester (Channel 98), Syracuse (Channel 323) and New York City (199).