ALBANY, NY - The Utica College men's soccer team picked up a crucial Empire 8 win over the Russell Sage Gators on Saturday night, 2-0. The win helps the Pioneers keep pace with Houghton College as both teams will enter the final week of the regular season fighting for the second seed in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament. 
 
Neither team scored through the game's first 45 minutes. Sage entered the break with an 8-7 shot advantage over Utica while the Pioneers held a 4-3 shots on goal advantage over the Gators at the half. 
 
Gian Rodriguez (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Northwood) gave the Pioneers a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute with his second goal of the season after rebounding a header attempt and lofting a rainbow over and out of the reach of Sage goalkeeper, Nolan Murphy. Rodriguez's goal came from roughly 10 yards out. 
 
In the 76th minute, Michael Bernardo (Bayshore, NY/Bayshore ) iced the game with his first goal of the season after Brady Barnard (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) and Rodriguez broke down the defense to find Bernardo crashing in near the net for an easy score past a diving Murphy. Bernardo and Rodriguez were each credited with an assist on the score while Rodriguez's header to Bernardo was the finishing touch. 
 
Jacob Sherline (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) led the Pioneers with four shot attempts, followed by Ramazani Juma (Utica, NY/Proctor) with three and Austin McCarthy (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) with two. Foti Xidias (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) recorded his fourth shutout and eighth win of the season after picking up seven saves. Xidias, with the help of defenders Daniel Varsames (Gansevoort, NY/Saratoga Springs) and Colin McCarthy (Vestal, NY/Vestal) as well as midfielders Cody Baker-Green (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) and Nick Webster (Maple Valley, WA/Tahoma), helped keep the Gators off of the board despite 18 Sage shots and six corner kicks. 
 
UC (8-5-1, 5-2 Empire 8) will take its four-game winning streak on the road at 4 p.m. on October 26 against non-conference opponent Hobart College.