ROCHESTER, NY – Freshman
Tatum Overton scored her fifth goal of the season early in the first half to propel Nazareth to a 1-0 victory over Alfred University on Saturday for the Golden Flyers Senior Day. With the win, Nazareth (6-4-7 overall, 5-1-3 E8) clinches the No. 2 seed in next week's Empire 8 Championship, earning the right to host the winner of No. 3 Sage (6-3-0 E8) and No. 6 Alfred (3-2-4 E8) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in the semifinals. St. John Fisher (6-0-3 E8) is the top overall seed and although Naz finished with the same amount of points (18) as Sage, the Golden Flyers took the second seed based on a head-to-head victory over the Gators. Nazareth and St. John Fisher earn automatic byes into the semifinal round as the top two seeds of the tournament.
Before the game, Nazareth honored its ten seniors in
Sydney Moss,
Madison Clermont,
McKayla Hughes,
Madison Knowles,
Megan McCraith,
Taryn McKeever,
Sarah Merriwether,
Geena Morotti,
Hannah Sertl, and
Ashlyn Slate.
Nazareth supplied strong pressure in the opening half, generating 11 shots and several strong scoring opportunities. Overton cashed in on on a long pass from midfield by classmate
Alice O'Connor that Overton pushed passed the Saxons goalkeeper. It was the first-career point for O'Connor.
Madison Knowles appeared to have scored a goal for Nazareth in the first half but it was disallowed on an offside call.
The Golden Flyers were in command for the entire contest, finishing with a 20-5 edge in shots and 8-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Annika Monfort finished with three saves in the win.
Empire 8 Championship Bracket
Seeding
- St. John Fisher (6-0-3, 21 points)
- Nazareth (5-1-3, 18 points)
- Russell Sage (6-3-0, 18 points)
- Utica (4-2-3, 15 points)
- Hartwick (4-2-3, 15 points)
- Alfred (3-2-4, 13 points)
Head-to-head tiebreakers: Nazareth beat Russell Sage, Utica defeated Hartwick.
Matchups
First Round
Tuesday, Nov. 1
#6 Alfred at #3 Russell Sage
#5 Hartwick at #4 Utica
Semifinals
Thursday, Nov. 3
Winner of Sage/Alfred at #2 Nazareth
Winner of Utica/Hartwick at #1 St. John Fisher
Championship
Saturday, Nov. 5
Semifinal winner 1 vs. Semifinal winner 2 (at Highest remaining seed)
