ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's soccer team lost for the first time in 11 days as the Cardinals fell to rival Nazareth College, 3-1, on Wednesday afternoon at Nazareth Stadium. With the defeat, Fisher slipped to 7-5-0 and 3-2-0 in the conference standings while the home team improved to 7-5-3 on the year and 6-0-0 against Empire 8 opposition.
Nazareth was first to strike as the Golden Flyers broke a scoreless game with tally in the ninth minute after threading the needle in front of the Cardinals' goal. The home team began to pull away midway through the first half after scoring back-to-back goals in a span of two minutes to hold a three-goal edge.
From there, Fisher would cut the gap to two goals in the 39th minute when
Madison Scull sent a long pass into the box that
Carli Kovarik buried for her conference-leading 10th goal of the year.
Facing a steep climb as the second half got underway, Fisher looked to up its pace, but the Golden Flyers' defense held its ground and maintained its 3-1 lead as the final horn sounded.
In goal,
Halle Tickell moved to 6-4 overall after making five stops in 90 minutes.
In all, Fisher was credited with having taken 10 shots led by Kovarik who had four in the loss.
Emma Spelman,
Siobhan McMakin,
Isabella Peracchi,
Grace Wolsieffer,
Tori Cruz and
Emma Osterhoudt rounded out the Cardinals' offense with one shot apiece.
Fisher will look to cement its spot in the upcoming Empire 8 Championship at 6 p.m. on Saturday when it travels to Alfred to take on the Saxons in a pivotal Empire 8 clash inside Yunevich Stadium.
