NAZARETH KNOCKS OFF UC SANTA CRUZ, 1-0
Golden Flyers (15-4-3) meet NYU Sunday at 6 p.m.
• BOXSCORE | • CUMULATIVE STATS

NEWARK, N.J. (Nov. 18, 2006) -- Nazareth's magical ride through the NCAA Division III Tournament for men's soccer continued Saturday as the Golden Flyers got an early second-half goal from Justin Stevens (pictured) and held on for a 1-0 victory over UC Santa Cruz in a game played at New Jersey Institute of Technology's Lubetkin Field.

The victory boosts the Golden Flyers into Sunday's national quaterfinals. Nazareth (15-4-3) plays New York University (14-3-4) at 6 p.m. at NJIT. The game will be available through a webcast at www.nyu.edu/athletics.

The winner of Sunday's game advances to next weekend's Final Four in Orlando. NYU eliminated Stevens Institute in penalty kicks, 3-1, following a 1-1 tie.

"We showed the same resilience that we've had all season," said Nazareth Coach Danny Gilbertson. "It's all attitude. We have a quiet confidence with a bite."

After a scoreless first half, Stevens broke loose in the 49th minute for his eighth goal of the season and only the fifth goal yielded all season by the Banana Slugs, ranked second nationally by d3kicks.com and 10th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Senior Jeremy Bergan sent a pass up the right wing and Stevens eluded his defender and fired a shot into the left corner for the goal.

"It was a bullet into the opposite side that not many goalies could have handled," Gilbertson said.

Stevens' goal left the balance of the game in the hands of the Nazareth defense, featuring sophomore sweeper Mohammed Ahamed and senior goalie Alx Kilroy. UC Santa Cruz had a 14-9 advantage in shots and an 8-0 edge in corner kicks, but Kilroy recorded four saves for his school-record eighth shutout of the season.

"He made one nice save on a direct kick, but there was nothing where they broke down our defense," Gilbertson said.

Nazareth's trip to the national quarterfinals marks its best performance in NCAA playoff history. The Golden Flyers made the tournament for the first time in 2005, but were eliminated in the first round by Brockport. In 2006, after winning the championship of the Empire 8 Conference, Nazareth has eliminated Geneseo, Medaille and now UC Santa Cruz.