UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's soccer team kept pace in the Empire 8 conference standings thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 road victory over Nazareth University on Saturday afternoon, improving to 6-2-1 in Empire 8 play and moving into a tie for first place in the conference standings before a Geneseo win later in the day. The Pioneers continued to show their ability to close out tight contests, securing their fifth one-goal victory of the season, as a Felix-Assa Loselose (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham) penalty conversion in the 16th minute was all it took to achieve a big win.
Senior goalkeeper Zachary Accetta (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point) anchored the Pioneer defense once again, recording his sixth shutout of the season with seven saves. After ranking first across all three NCAA divisions in save percentage earlier in the week at .931, Accetta raised his season mark to .932 with Saturday's performance, turning away every shot on target he faced to preserve the clean sheet.
The decisive moment came in the 16th minute, when a foul by the Nazareth goalkeeper inside the box awarded Utica a penalty kick. Loselose stepped up and converted at 15:41, finding the back of the net for his team-leading sixth goal of the season and giving the Pioneers a 1-0 advantage.
Nazareth pushed for an equalizer throughout the remainder of the contest, finishing with a 21-8 edge in shots and a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks. Accetta and the Pioneer defense stood firm under pressure, though, with the goalkeeper making seven saves, including several key stops in the second half. The orange and blue maintained their narrow lead through the final whistle to secure the conference victory and spoil the Golden Flyers' Senior Day.
The result continues a strong recent run for the Pioneers against the Golden Flyers. Utica has earned a result in five of the last six meetings between the programs, winning four of those matchups. Saturday's shutout adds another important result as the Pioneers continue their push near the top of the Empire 8 standings, now sitting tied for second place with a St. John Fisher team while holding a tiebreaker over the Cardinals for the #2 seed thanks to a 2-0 win earlier in the season.
With the win, Utica improves to 8-5-2 overall and 6-2-1 in Empire 8 play, remaining firmly in the conference title race with a chance to achieve the program's first ever regular season title over the final two games of the regular season. The Pioneers will face SUNY Poly at Casamento Field next Wednesday, October 21st with a 7:00 PM kickoff, before closing out the regular season with a Saturday, October 24th road test at Elmira. The regular season finale kicks off at 1:00 PM next Saturday.
