PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College men's soccer team opened up Empire 8 play on Saturday as the Cardinals came up short against the visiting Utica College Pioneers, 3-1, inside Growney Stadium.  With the defeat, Fisher fell to 1-8-0 overall and 0-1-0 in the Empire 8 standings while Utica improved to 6-1-2, 1-0-1, respectively.

The Pioneers were first to get on the board after gathering a loose ball in front of the net and burying it into the back of the cage in the 16th minute.

Trailing by a goal, Fisher fired back just six minutes later when a turnover at midfield led to an odd-man rush with Justin Bonetto finding Jeff Meyers on the left side for a goal to knot things up at one tally apiece in the 21st minute.

With both teams testing each side's defense, the Pioneers would break through in the 37th minute after delivering a strike past Fisher's keeper on a rebound to hold a 2-1 edge at the break. 

Coming out of the halftime intermission, Utica provided itself some breathing room in the 49th minute when a header found its mark to stake the visitors to a two-goal advantage, 3-1.

As the game continued, Fisher would push the pace and peppered the Pioneers' keeper with five shots, however, time would run out on the Cardinals comeback bid with the Pioneers earning their second consecutive win.

In all, Fisher was credited with 14 shots in all led by Meyers and Colin Witman who had three each.  Bonetto had two shots in the loss while Ben Woolingham finished the game with two shots on his ledger.

In goal, Justin Miles started for the first time this season as the keeper made nine saves over 90 minutes of play.

The Cardinals will look to put one in the win column at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday when they travel to Houghton to take on the Highlanders in an Empire 8 pairing.