Hoboken, N.J. – The 28th ranked and third-seeded Ithaca women's soccer team (11-3-3) allowed back-to-back first-half scores by second-seeded Nazareth (10-3-4) and went on to fall, 3-1, in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament semifinal match hosted by top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday.

Although Ithaca held a slight 14-13 edge in shots, Nazareth put eight on goal to the Bombers' five. The Golden Flyers claimed a 7-5 shot advantage in the first, enough to take a 2-0 lead, before Ithaca dominated play with a 9-6 shot advantage in the second stint. Each team found the back of the net once in the latter half forcing the Bombers out of title contention. Nazareth will advance to the championship match against the Ducks on Sunday.

Trailing 2-0 in the 79th minute, sophomore Amanda Callanan (Ballston Spa/Ballston Spa) connected on a ball produced by a free kick following a Nazareth foul. The Golden Flyers failed to clear the ball as Callanan collected and brought the Bombers within one with her eighth score of the season.

Nazareth denied the Bombers an opportunity to knot the game as it marched the ball down field to reclaim a two-goal cushion just 2:07 later.

The Bombers laced off two shots in the lingering minutes of play, but were unable to convert.

Nazareth broke the scoring silence at 34:36 capitalizing on a deflected ball in the box before going ahead 2-0 on a corner-kick play less than two minutes later. Ithaca got a trio of shots off before intermission, but none were on point as the Golden Flyers maintained their tow-goal gap.

Junior Becca Salant (Holliston/Holliston, Mass.) made five stops in goal for the Bombers who took seven corner kicks to Nazareth's three.

Ithaca, who owns a 14-7-8 series over Nazareth, has won or shared seven Empire 8 crowns over the past nine years.

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