PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's soccer team secured the second overall seed in the upcoming Empire 8 Championship as the Bombers held off St. John Fisher College, 2-1, on Saturday in an Empire 8 clash at Polessini Track and Field Complex.

With the win, Ithaca improved its overall record to 7-8-1 and 5-1-1 in conference play while the Cardinals dipped to 5-9-2 and 3-3-1, respectively, with the loss.

Ithaca will make its sixth consecutive appearance in the conference championship on Friday as the second-seeded Bombers take on the third-seeded Houghton College Highlanders at De Baun Athletic Complex in Hoboken, N.J.  Stevens, which earned the top seed by virtue of its win over Houghton on Saturday, will host fourth-seeded St. John Fisher in the championship's other semifinal pairing.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead after scoring in just the eighth minute of play, but Ithaca would answer in the 27th minute as Nathan Schoen found Kevin Turi with a crossing pass to make it a 1-1 game.  The goal marked the third of the season for Turi.

12 minutes later, Ithaca took the lead for good as senior Scott Halpern moved his way through Fisher's defense before unleashing a strike into the back of the net to give Ithaca a 2-1 advantage.

Up by a goal in the second half, Ithaca's defense stymied the Cardinals at every turn as Fisher was only able to muster two shots over the final 45 minutes of play.

Zach Jacobsen earned the win and moved to 7-6-1 on the season.  The senior made one save over 90 minutes. 

 The Bombers were credited with 12 shots on the day including six on goal.  Halpern, Alexander Brosnihan and Schoen led Ithaca with two shots each.