ITHACA, NY—The Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks eliminated the Houghton College Highlanders from the Empire 8 men's soccer conference tournament on Friday by a score of 3-1.
 
The Highlanders conclude their season with an overall record of 9-7-2, 4-3-1 in the Empire 8.  The win propels the Ducks (14-3-2, 6-0-2 Empire 8) into their ninth consecutive conference title game against the top-seeded Ithaca College Bombers, who won their semifinal matchup with the Elmira College Soaring Eagles on penalty kicks.
 
Stevens has won each of the previous eight conference tournament championships.
 
Playing without three of their starting defenders, the Highlanders cobbled together a starting lineup that, with the exception of an early miscommunication, defended the top scoring offense in the conference adeptly until late in the game.
 
"Stevens is a big, physical team with a lot of talented players," commented head coach Matthew Webb.  "We asked some guys who haven't seen regular time to step into a tough situation against them today.  I'm proud of how hard they played."
 
The Ducks struck early, doing what they do so well, scoring on a header by Patrick Masur only 1:11 into the game. 
 
After the opening goal the Highlanders locked down the defensive end with the help of several tremendous saves by goalkeeper Jacob Dunnett (Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Kennebecasis).
 
In the 34^th minute the Highlanders started to open up an attack.  After Steven Anderson's (Lyndonville, NY, Lyndonville Central) shot was blocked by a defender, Nic Loew (Center Valley, PA, Southern Lehigh) sent a shot that dipped over the keeper to the far-post only to clang off the crossbar and was quickly cleared away.
 
Loew, however, was not done.  The Highlanders regrouped, sending another attack into the offensive third.  Loew received a pass at the left corner of the box, beat a defender and tried a shot, which a second defender aptly blocked. 
 
Loew collected the deflection, beat two defenders to his right and slid a hard shot past the diving keeper to even the game.
 
Minutes later, the Ducks crossed a ball into the box to Jay Mikula, who placed a strong header toward the back of the net.  Dunnett reacted quickly, diving to his left and collecting the ball in one swift motion.
 
The second half, despite some outstanding defensive plays form the Highlanders, would belong almost exclusively to the Ducks.
 
Houghton's only shot would come in the 89^th minute, as Stevens outshot the Highlanders 12-1 in the second frame.
 
Following more outstanding saves from Dunnett, and a defensive save by Bjorn Webb (Houghton, NY, Fillmore Central) on a ball destined for the back of the net, the Ducks broke the draw in the 73^rd minute.
 
After a loose ball bounced off several players inside the box, Dunnett challenged Stevens' Joe Cellitti for a high ball at the six.  Cellitti beat Dunnett to the ball by a split-second, skipping a header over the on-rushing keeper and into the back of the net. 
 
Dunnett and Cellitti met in a mid-air collision with Cellitti bearing the worst of the meeting, forcing the Duck's goal-scorer from the game for the remainder of the afternoon.
 
With the defense drawn up, the Ducks gave themselves some breathing room, scoring again on a quick counter play.  Carson Pryor created a one-on-one with his defender then spied the run of teammate Mikula, sliding a perfect ball across the top of the box.  Mikula placed a perfect left-footed shot around the keeper and off the inside of the far-post.
 
"I'm incredibly proud of our team," said Coach Webb following the game.  "Losing Jesse [Toth] mid-season was a big loss.  It took us some time to figure it out but we fought back to make the tournament.  Losing Jordan Smith (Lititz, PA, Warwick) and Jordan Mullen (Fillmore, NY, Fillmore) against Utica in the last game of the year forced us to shuffle some things around and Stevens is a tough team to do that against."
 
The Highlanders graduate four seniors but bring back the lion's share of this year's team, including nine regular starters, as they look to make another run at their first Empire 8 championship in 2016.