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ROCHESTER, NY – RIT goalkeeper Chris Rouland (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh) (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh) stopped three straight St. John Fisher attempts in the penalty kick session, as the RIT Men’s Soccer team (8-6-3) advanced to the Empire 8 Championship game, out-scoring the Cardinals 4-3 in six rounds of penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie.

 

With each team converting three penalty kicks after the first five shooters, it came down to a sudden death round.  Senior Jorge Ciurlizza (McLean, VA/Gonzaga) (McLean, VA/Gonzaga) fired a shot that Fisher goalkeeper Paul Illukor got a piece of, but the ball found the back of the net.  Rouland came up huge once again, as he robbed Fisher’s Mike Annechino, with a diving save to his left.

 

Illukor set the tone in the shootout, stopping Smyth on the first attempt, by diving to his right.  Adam Blanchard scored for Fisher to get the advantage.

 

In round two, Beca tallied for RIT.  Anthony Valle gave Fisher the advantage once again, ripping a shot that Rouland got a piece of, but could not keep out of the net.

 

Rowse scored for RIT in round three, while D’Angelo answered right back to give St. John Fisher a 3-2 lead.

 

Fisher seemed to have the shootout in hand, when Illukor stopped Lawson in round four.  Needing just one goal to advance, Fisher was unable to convert, as Rouland stopped James Van Thof.

 

Andrew Ong (Phuket, Thailand/SKL) scored to even the penalty kicks round at 4.  Once again, however, the Cardinals could end the match with a goal, but for the second straight time, Rouland was up to the task, making a diving save on Hugh Chisholm’s attempt.

 

St. John Fisher (9-8-1) had the first quality chance of the afternoon, as Anthony D’Angelo slid a pass to Hugh Chisholm, who found himself on a partial breakaway.  Chisholm just missed, however, as his low shot slid inches away from the left goal post with just over 36 minutes to play in the opening half

 

Mike Lawson (Wall, NJ/Wall) (Wall, NJ/Wall) nearly gave RIT the lead with a little under 29 minutes left in the half, but his shot, which was going wide, rocketed off Paul Illukor’s hand, resulting in a Tiger corner kick.

 

RIT had two great chances midway through the first half.  After Chuck Marion (Syracuse, NY/Westhill) (Syracuse, NY/Westhill) was hauled down just outside the penalty area, Geoff Schmidt (Wooster, OH/Wooster)’s (Wooster, OH/Wooster) ensuing free kick was knocked away by Illukor.  The senior goalkeeper made a diving stop to keep the game scoreless.  Just seconds later, RIT senior defender Dan Beca (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua) took a shot from about 35 yards out stopped by Illukor, who made a leaping save.

 

The Cardinals opened the scoring with 9:29 to play in the first half.  Pat Fitzgerald sent a ball to the right side of the box, finding a streaking Ricky Martinez.  Martinez beat RIT goalkeeper Chris Rouland (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh) (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh) to the ball, put a move to the outside on the keeper and slid the ball into the open net for his second tally of the year.

 

Martinez almost got his second goal of the day, as a pass from James Van Thof eluded the RIT defense.  The ball took a big hop however, and Martinez’s shot was stopped by Rouland.

 

Both teams fired nine shots in the first half.  RIT had five shots on goal, while the Cardinals recorded three.

 

Endri Kita (Albany, NY/Albany) (Albany, NY/Albany) found himself with an open shot with 33 minutes left in regulation, but his blast from about 22 yards out sailed just over the net.

 

The Tigers netted the equalizer with 22:28 remaining, as Dennis Smyth (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam) (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam) headed in a cross from Lawson off a corner kick.  The goal was Smyth’s second of the season, and Lawson’s fourth helper in 2005.

 

Play was physical throughout, with play being stopped a handful of times to tend to injured players.

 

RIT almost took the lead, with 11 minutes left, as a Lawson cross on an indirect kick found its way right to Pete Gossin (Penfield, NY/Penfield) (Penfield, NY/Penfield). Gossin one timed the pass, but Illukor was there to make by far his best save of the day.

Marion ripped a shot from 25 yards out with 1:30 left in regulation that was deflected by a Fisher defender, changing direction, but sliding just wide to the right of the Fisher goal.

 

Regulation ended with RIT holding 18-13 edge in shots.  The Tigers out-shot Fisher 9-4 in the second 45 minutes of play.

 

In the first overtime, Beca grabbed a loose ball at midfield with just over four minutes left and knifed between three Fisher defenders, before ripping a shot from just inside the box that Illukor gobbled up.

 

Both teams played cautious in the second overtime, leading to the penalty kicks.

 

RIT out-shot St. John Fisher 20-13 overall in the contest.  Illukor was valiant in goal for the Cardinals, stopping 10 shots.  Rouland made three saves.

 

The Tigers will host #4 Nazareth College, who advanced to the final after outlasting #1 Ithaca College in penalty kicks.  The championship game will be played on Saturday at 1 p.m. at RIT Field.