HOBOKEN, N.J. (November 3, 2017)  – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's soccer team opens play in the 2017 Empire 8 Conference Championship with a Friday night fixture against reigning league championship St. John Fisher at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

Preceding the match against the Cardinals, Nazareth College will take on The Sage Colleges in the other semifinal contest.

From the Pond
Stevens earned the number one overall seed in the tournament after finishing 5-1-1 in conference play. The only blemish on the Stevens' record was a setback to Utica in the regular season finale.

The conference's path to the NCAA goes through Hoboken for the eighth time since 2002. Stevens is 16-0-2 in tournament play, falling to Ithaca in 2012 and St. John Fisher in 2016 on penalties. 

Offensively, the Ducks are led by junior forward Daniel Aversano. The Allendale, New Jersey native has registered five goals and an assist, totaling 11 points. His four game-winning goals are tied for the conference lead. Classmate Andrew Masur has chipped in with three goals and four assists for 10 points, good for second on the team. Sixteen different players have collected at least one point for the Ducks.

Defensively, senior Patrick Boylan and Tommy Dorsay anchor a back line that is allowing only 1.12 goals per match. Junior goalkeeper Aaron Henry ranks second in the conference with a 0.983 goals against average and is tied for second with five clean sheets.

Stevens defeated each of the other competing teams at the DeBaun Athletic Complex this season. The Ducks are 6-2-1 on the home pitch this season.

Finding out about Fisher
The Cardinals return to the scene of the program's first-ever conference championship. St. John Fisher edged the Ducks on penalties and bested Houghton College 3-2 to win the conference's 2016 crown. 

St. John Fisher reached this year's championship on the next-to-last day of competition, downing Alfred University 3-1 on Senior Day. The team returned eight starters from last season, led by Justin Ferron and Bryan Rollins, who've combined for 27 points this season. 

The Cardinals are matching Stevens in allowing 1.12 goals per game. Junior goalkeeper Joe Catalfamo anchors the defense, making 70 saves with a 1.084 goals against average. The Fairport, New York native has posted three clean sheets, while playing nearly 1,500 minutes in goal.

Since 2002, the Cardinals are 3-5-3 in championship play, with last year's championship win snapping a five-match winless streak.

News on Nazareth
The Golden Flyers return to the conference championship for the first time since the 2013 season. Nazareth is 5-5-5 in championship play since 2002.

The Nazareth men's soccer program is on the upswing after a winless 2015 season. The Golden Flyers improved to 6-8-2 in 2016 and the 10 victories this season are the most for the program since 2011. 

Freshmen Josh Crespo and Matt Gasbarre lead the offense, combining for 11 goals. The team will be without sophomore goalkeeper Brian Wilkin, who leads the conference in goals against average (0.868) and save percentage (0.862), who is out with an illness. Freshman Josh McNutt will make his second career start in the fixture with Sage.

The Golden Flyers are third in the conference in goals (31) and have the lowest goals against total, in large part to Wilkin's performance in net, where the Rochester, New York native has earned three E8 Defensive Player of the Week honors. Wilkin made five saves in posting a clean sheet as the Golden Flyers downed Sage 2-0 in the first-ever meeting between the programs.

Nazareth fell to the Ducks and bested Sage and St. John Fisher in earning the second seed in the tournament. 

Getting to know the Gators
Sage reaches the Empire 8 Championship in its first season as a member of the conference. The Gators improved by two victories over its 2016 campaign, although the team did reach the Skyline Conference Championship final. 

In just their seventh year as a program, the Gators have reached postseason play in all seven seasons of competition.

Led by one of the nation's top scoring threats in River Seybolt, Sage leads the league in goals per game, averaging an even two scores per match. Seybolt has tallied 14 goals in 16 matches, tying for 39th in the country. Seybolt broke the program's all-time scoring record earlier this season. 

In net, junior Michael Chiaravalloti has posted a 9-4-1 record, making 91 saves over 15 matches (14 starts). 

Sage fell to Nazareth and Stevens and defeated St. John Fisher in two overtimes to earn the third seed.

The matchups
Nazareth will take on Sage in the tournament opener, followed by Stevens versus St. John Fisher. 
The semifinal winners will meet Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. for the championship. Live stats and video links are available on the tournament webpage, which can be found here.

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