PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher University men's soccer team celebrated senior day at home on Saturday and the happiness continued post-game. The Cardinals held on to defeat Russell Sage College, 2-1, in a game that was filled with intense moments. With the win, Fisher are in first place in the Empire 8 conference with a 6-1 conference record, and have an overall record of 7-4-2. The Gators drop their second straight game and now sit at 7-6-2 and 4-3 in E8 games.
 
The first opportunity for the Cardinals game at the 16:40 mark, as Justin Bonetto lined up for a penalty kick. Despite a hard shot going to the right side of the goal, the keeper was able to dive and make a stop to keep the score at 0-0. The only other shot of the first half, came off the head of Brennan Brown and it went wide left of the goal. Fisher goalie, Jadon Schlierf, made four saves in the first half to keep the Gators off the board and the score tied as the horn sounded for halftime.
 
In the second frame, the Cardinals took the lead at the 56:31 mark. Bonetto made a run down the right side of the field and sent in a cross into the box that landed perfectly for Matt Gentile to convert. Gentile's third goal of the year put the team ahead 1-0. Then in the 75th minute controversy occurred. A Parker Hotchkiss shot hit the right post before being knocked away by a defender, but after a discussion the officials said that the ball crossed the line and the Cardinals were ahead 2-0. A through ball by Tyler Brennan set up Hotchkiss nicely. In the 83rd minute, the Gators converted on their penalty kick opportunity to cut the score to 2-1, but the defense for Fisher held on to take the win.
 
As a team, the Cardinals totaled 11 shots, nine of which came in the second half and six were on target. Schlierf faced little adversity in the second half, only seeing two shots and neither forced him to make a save.
 
Fisher has an opportunity to clinch the number one seed in the Empire 8 as the regular season concludes. They will head to Medaille College on Wednesday, Oct. 26 for a conference game that will kick off at 7 p.m. The Cardinals will then conclude the regular season with a cross-town rivalry battle against Nazareth College on Saturday, Oct. 29.
 
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