Seybolt provides spark to lift Sage to Empire 8 Finals!
| Final | 1 | 2 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Hoboken, NJ- Sage's men's soccer team travelled to New Jersey to compete in the 2017 Empire 8 Men's Soccer Semifinals. A first-year member of the Empire 8, Sage's men's soccer team travelled to Stevens Institute of Technology for the league's tournament on Friday. Seeded third, Sage's men's team upset second seeded Nazareth College on Friday night in overtime to move onto Saturday's Empire 8 Championship. Sage will meet top seeded Stevens, a 2-0 winner over No. 4 seeded St. John Fisher in the other semifinal. The championship will take place at Steven's Debaun Field at 7 p.m. on November 4 with the champion garnering the league's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division III Tournament.
Sage stands at 10-5-2 overall, while Nazareth drops to 10-6-1.
Sage trailed at the half and with just 1:56 left in regulation, junior forward River Seybolt (Selden, NY/Longwood) tied the game on a pass from senior Derlis Zayas (White Plains, NY/White Plains). Zayas had the initial shot which was blocked before Seybolt collected the rebound for the goal at 88:04.
Late in the first period of overtime, Seybolt would score his second goal of the match at 99:32 propelling Sage into the conference finals. Junior captain Ryan Fairweather (Middletown, NY/Minisink Valley) collected the assist on the goal.
Seybolt currently leads Sage in scoring this season with his personal-best year on the pitch as he has 16 goals, three assists and 35 points. Already Sage's all-time leading goal scorer, he has 40 goals with 10 assists and continues to build upon Sage's career point record he holds with 90 points.
Nazareth's Josh Crespo collected the first goal of the night on a pass from Mitchell Fors at 22:38 to give the Golden Flyers the 1-0 lead until Sage tied the game and forced overtime. In the regular-season match-up, Nazareth collected a 2-0 win over Sage on September 16 in the Gators' 2017 Empire 8 conference debut.
Sage's junior keeper Michael Chiaravalloti's (Torrington, CT/Oliver Wolcott) picked up six saves in the match to earn the win and has helped the Gators garner the team's third straight finals appearance after the 2016 team advances to the championship of their old conference, the Skyline Conference. Nazareth's keeper, Josh McNutt had nine saves in the loss.
Team Stats
Nazareth
| Game Statistics | Russell Sage College | Nazareth |
|---|---|---|
| Shots (on goal) | 34 (12) | 21 (9) |
| Saves | 8 | 10 |
| Fouls | 9 | 10 |
| Corner Kicks | 8 | 4 |
| Offsides | 2 | 2 |
