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HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- Occasional rain, wind, and snow could not slow the Golden Flyers as 15 players tallied at least one goal to lead visiting Nazareth to a dominant 29-0 victory over Houghton in an Empire 8 Conference lacrosse game Wednesday evening. The Golden Flyers scored 21 times in the opening half to take command. Juniors Luke Wooters and Troy Haefele each had five points to lead the offense, and goalies Michael Cuciti, Scott Brown, and Rick Kronenwett combined to make six saves for the shutout.

With the victory, Nazareth improves to 12-4 overall and 7-0 in Empire 8 games. The Golden Flyers, ranked 15th in the most recent USILA poll, earned the top seed in next week's Empire 8 Tournament with the win. The Highlanders drop to 1-12 overall and 0-7 in conference games following the loss. It is the second shutout for the men's lacrosse team in school history. The first shutout was last season when Nazareth defeated Houghton 23-0. It is the first time the Highlanders have been blanked this season.

With the starters seeing roughly 19 minutes of action, many additional players had the opportunity to make contributions at the offensive and defensive ends of the field. Freshman Gavin Shaner had a pair of goals, the first of his career, and classmates Derek Andrews and Jason Partridge also scored their first goal as a Golden Flyer. Freshman Nick Rodin added two goals to give him three on the season. Freshmen Jonathan Olbrich and Ben Bickford also cracked the scoresheet.

Nazareth also received three goals from freshman Paul Walter, which gives him nine on the season. Senior Kyle Fanning, junior Matt O'Neill, and freshman Jacob Gray all scored twice, and sophomores Hunter Burdick and Nick Arnold both added one goal.

In their limited time on the field, Wooters had a game-high four scores and added an assist, while Haefele tallied two goals and three assists. Senior Will Fallo, the third member of the Golden Flyers' starting attack unit, recorded four points on three goals and one assist.

On the defensive side of the field, Rodin, Keanan O'Brien, and Lai combined to cause seven turnovers. As a team, Nazareth recorded 17 caused turnovers. Houghton had 15 additional unforced turnovers.

In the first half, the Golden Flyers mixed attacking and slower offense to provide them with the large advantage. On many of the Highlanders' clearing attempts, Nazareth forced turnovers to lead to scoring opportunities in transition. At his attack position, Wooters forced three turnovers. Houghton was successful on only 9-26 clear attempts.

Cuciti earned the victory with three saves as he played the first quarter in Nazareth's net. Brown had one save in 15 minutes of action, and Kronenwett had two saves in 30 minutes between the Golden Flyers' pipes.

Nazareth had a dominant advantage in total shots, 57-12, despite taking only 18 in the second half. The Golden Flyers also had overwhelming advantages in ground balls collected (50-13) and faceoffs (26-7). Senior Drew Simoneau won 12-14 faceoff attempts in his limited playing time. Simoneau entered the week ranked third in Division III in faceoff winning percentage at .699. Shaner finished 12-17 on faceoffs, and Vincent Loscalzo and Partridge each won their lone faceoff attempt.

The Golden Flyers travel to St. John Fisher for another Empire 8 contest to close the regular season on Saturday. The game is set for 1 p.m.

Nazareth will host an Empire 8 semifinal contest on Wednesday, April 29th. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday, May 2nd. As the top seed, the Golden Flyers will host the championship game if they advance. Ithaca is in second with a 6-1 conference record, while St. John Fisher and Stevens each stand at 5-2. With help from other teams, Alfred (4-3) could also still reach the conference tournament. The final three tournment slots will be decided by games on Saturday.