ITHACA, N.Y. – The #23 Ithaca men's soccer team begins pursuit of the Empire 8 championship tournament title Friday at 2 p.m. when the Bombers host St. John Fisher in a conference semifinal game on Carp Wood Field. Ithaca (10-3-3) is the top seed in the tournament after winning the Empire 8 regular-season title with a 5-0-2 conference record. The Cardinals (5-8-3) are seeded fourth after finishing Empire 8 play with a 3-3-1 record.

Live Stats and radio coverage from WICB are available during the game.

In the teams' only regular-season meeting, Ithaca and St. John Fisher played to a 0-0 tie in Pittsford on Oct. 18. Ithaca has won 13 of 18 all-time meetings between the teams, with two losses and three ties.

Six Ithaca players earned All-Empire 8 recognition in 2008, including senior goalkeeper Andy Wilhelm (Centennial/Ellicott City, Md.), junior defender Michael Jordhamo (Arlington/Hopewell Junction) and sophomore midfielder Jeff Geyer (Rham/Hebron, Conn.) on the first team. Seniors Jason Kaufman (Amherst Regional/Leverett, Mass.) and Kurt Odenbach (McQuaid Jesuit/Webster) were on the second team and senior forward John Tarson (Phillips Academy/Action, Mass.) earned honorable mention.

Wilhelm leads the Empire 8 in goals-against average (0.40) and save percentage (.897) and has four shutouts in conference play. Geyer, Kaufman and Odenbach all have five goals to share the Bomber lead in that category.

St. John Fisher is led by Luke Lennox, who has six goals and four assists on the year. The junior forward was a first team all-Empire 8 selection. Sophomore defender Andrew McIntosh was also named to the second team. Brad Ervin earned honorable mention.

The other Empire 8 semifinal matches second-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology against Nazareth. The highest remaining seed following Friday's semifinal games will host the championship match Sunday afternoon. The Empire 8 tournament champion receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship.