Men’s Soccer Wins Empire 8 Title

The No. 1-seeded St. John Fisher University men’s soccer team cinched the Empire 8 Championship trophy with a 2-0 victory over No. 7-seeded Elmira College on Saturday night at Growney Stadium.

With the win, the team punched its ticket to the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship.

The Cardinals (11-4-5), who hae been to the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship just one other time in program history (2016), will watch the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship Selection Show at 1:30 p.m. on Monday as a team to learn what is next for them. The show will be streamed live on NCAA.com and the tournament begins on Saturday, Nov. 16.

The Cardinals ended up getting exactly what they had hoped for when the regular season began back in August: a chance to take care of some unfinished business against the Soaring Eagles, after losing to the team in penalty kicks in the Empire 8 title game last year.

Fisher erased any doubt about it early, scoring twice in the first 25 minutes of the first half and holding the 2-0 lead the rest of the way.

Senior forward Riley Rease scored on an assist from senior defender Trevor Heschke at the 13:47 mark. About 10 minutes later, senior forward Joey Avallone netted his team-leading seventh goal of the season off assists from Rease and sophomore forward Jack Tamburino.

Cardinals goalkeeper Christian Burkhart, a graduate student, recorded his Division-III leading 13th shutout of the season and made four saves. The Cardinals have blanked their last six opponents.

Fisher has not lost since a 2-1 setback to Russell Sage on Oct. 5, outscoring its opponents 18-1 in that stretch.

Burkhart, who did not allow a goal during Fisher’s three Empire 8 Tournament games and has six straight shutouts dating back to Oct. 19, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.