Courtesy of NazAthletics.com
Rochester, NY – Freshman Justin Pumputis headed home a set piece from Zach Titus in the 82nd minute to propel Nazareth to a 2-1 win over Houghton Saturday on Senior Day. With the win, Nazareth secures the No. 2 seed for next weekend’s Empire 8 Championships hosted by top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology. As the No. 2 seed, Nazareth will take on No. 3 Sage (4-2-1) in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday. The fourth seed will be St. John Fisher (3-3-1) who play at 4 p.m. Saturday night.
Nazareth moves to 10-5-1 overall and 5-2 overall with the win, while Houghton drops to 6-9-2 and 1-5-1, respectively.
Houghton had the better of play for the opening half generating 12 shots, compared to just three for the Golden Flyers.
Josh McNutt, making his first-career start in net, made five saves in the opening half to keep the game scoreless at the break.
Nazareth picked up the pressure in the second half offensively and Mitchell Fors was able to draw penalty kick after speeding down the field.
Josh Crespo calmly took the penalty kick, slotting it into the left netting for a 1-0 advantage in the 54th minute. It was Crespo’s team-leading sixth goal of the season.
That lead only lasted 3:29 as Houghton scored off a corner kick. Ben Lawrence found the net directly off the corner, playing an in-swinging ball that curved inside the far post.
Crespo nearly put Nazareth ahead again in the 59th minute with a shot from 12-yards being pushed aside.
McNutt came up big for the Golden Flyers in the 67th minute, just getting enough a shot in tight for it to hit off the post and out.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, McNutt tipped a would-be goal over the bar from Jordan Mullen. He finished the game with nine saves in net.
At 81:36 Zach Titus played an in-swinging cross off a free kick that found the head of Pumputis from 8-yards out into the far post.
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