ROCHESTER, NY – (some information taken from St. John Fisher sports information) Despite outshooting their hosts 17-9 on Saturday, the Hartwick men's soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision to St. John Fisher, giving the Hawks their first Empire 8 loss of the season. 'Wick is now 4-2-2 overall and 0-1-1 in conference, while the Cardinals are 2-3-1 overall and 1-0-0 in E8 play.
After some cautious play over the first half-hour, the Cardinals substituted on seven new players within six-plus minutes. One of those was Riley Rease, and he made his head coach look smart by scoring under ten minutes after he first saw action. Fisher's Matt Gentile deflected a Hartwick turnover at midfield to Dominic Tabechian, whose through ball to Rease was buried in the near corner for a 1-0 35th minute lead.
Jimmy Noel (Cap Haitian, Haiti/Baldwin) nearly tied it early on in the second half, but his 55th minute effort struck the crossbar and bounced away.
Gentile found himself assisting Rease again later on in the half, as they secured some insurance for their side in the 65th minute. This tally came off the head of Rease, as he redirected a perfect ball off a set piece into the lower corner for the 2-0 advantage.
Rodrigo Fernandez (Leon, Mexico/Instituto Centraa) almost pulled the Hawks back to within one in the 73rd minute, but his header found the crossbar just as Noel's try did earlier in the period.
Noel tied Rease for the game high in shots with five, a new career high. Tyler Muir (Poughquag, NY/Arlington) was the only other Hawk with more than two shots, as he took three tries at net. Jodi Johnson (Seaford, DE/Sussex Technical) played 66:39 in net, making two saves, while Jackson Gilstrap (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) saw his first action since the opener against Marywood, making one save over the final 23:21.
'Wick is back to it this Wednesday, as they host SUNY Delhi at 6 p.m. on the Elmore turf.
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