NAZARETH BLANKS RIT FOR E8 TITLE, 1-0
Golden Flyers clinch NCAA birth with the victory
• BOXSCORE | • CUMULATIVE STATS

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Nov. 4, 2006) – Visiting Nazareth got a first-half goal from freshman Philip Holmberg Saturday and the Golden Flyers held on to defeat RIT in men’s soccer, 1-0, in the Empire 8 Conference championship game.

The victory clinched the E8 title and the Golden Flyers’ second straight trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament. With a record of 13-4-2 overall, Nazareth also equaled a school record for victories in a season, matching their win total of 1988. Saturday’s game was a rematch of last season’s championship game in which Nazareth and RIT shared the conference title with Nazareth gaining the NCAA berth through penalty kicks.

“It was a physical game and I’m proud of the way our guys stood up to it in the second half,” said Nazareth Coach Danny Gilbertson. “Obviously this is a great win for us.”

Nazareth came into the E8 Tournament as the third seed and advanced to the final via penalty kicks at Ithaca last Wednesday following a 1-1 tie with the second-seeded Bombers. The Golden Flyers then knocked off the top-seeded Tigers (7-7-3) for the title.

RIT had posted six straight shutouts heading into Saturday’s game, but the Golden Flyers snapped a scoreless streak that extended more than 650 minutes when Holmberg scored the game’s lone goal in the 24th minute.

Senior Andrew Wirfel set up the play by crossing the ball into the penalty area and Holmberg drilled a low shot that eluded RIT keeper Alan Smith into the left corner for the decisive score.

RIT managed a couple of solid scoring chances in the second half, but senior goalie Alex Kilroy made both of his saves to produce his sixth shutout of the season and the 17th of his career.

Nazareth gained its first-ever NCAA berth in 2005, but was eliminated in the first round by Brockport, 2-0. Pairings for the 2006 NCAA Tournament will be revealed Sunday.