Men's Soccer 2008

The RIT Men’s Soccer team finished off their season on the right foot with a 2-1 win over Nazareth on Saturday afternoon.  The win eliminated Nazareth from Empire 8 playoff contention.  The Empire 8 Soccer Conference consists of RIT, Alfred, Elmira, Ithaca, Nazareth, St. John Fisher, Stevens, and Utica. 

The season started off on the wrong foot as the Tigers went 1-5 to open the season.  The team went 6-4-1 to finish off the season as they ended with a 3-3-1 conference record and a 7-9-1 overall record.  The highlight of the season came with the Tigers earning a tie against 10^th ranked Stevens Institute of Technology who had a 54 game unbeaten streak in Empire 8 conference play.  That streak was broken by Ithaca last weekend.

Dan Holowaty led the team in goals and points with 6 goals and 1 assist for 13 points.  Other key players included Bret Dietz (5-2-12), Bobby Bullard (4-2-10), and Todd Gaulocher (4-0-8).  Goalie Alan Smith was 5-9-1 with a save percentage of .832.  Freshman goalie Eric Koop went 2-0-0 with a save percentage of .500.

As a whole, I am sure Coach Bill Garno was hoping for more, however, RIT continues to put out a “true” student-athlete!  RIT is an extremely competitive no nonsense academic university.  Furthermore, the commitment these young men make to be a student-athlete at RIT will prepare them very well for their future endeavors.