HOBOKEN, NJ— Alfred University fell to top-seeded Stevens 6-5 in PK's after competing in a scoreless Empire 8 Conference men's soccer championship tournament semifinal match  Friday afternoon.
 
Both teams showed stifling defense throughout the game, keeping the ball in the middle third of the field.  The first shot on goal came in the 36^th minute when Colin Phillips of Stevens was able to slip through the AU defense and win a header.  However, freshman keeper Chris Gutierrez (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) was there for the stop, and he would continue that theme the rest of the game with the help of his dependable defense comprised of Oumar Soumahoro (New York, NY/Martin Luther King), Nicholas Milliman (Randolph, NY/Randolph), Nicholas Poindexter (Corwall-on-the-Hudson, NY/Cornwall), and Jeff Thomas (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua).
 
Stevens attempted to take advantage of a corner kick just under two minutes later when Joe Cellitti headed the ball on net, but he was turned away by the quick reflexed of the young Gutierrez.  The first half would end 0-0.
 
The second half was more of the same, as two staunch defenses denied the crashing waves of offense from the opposing team.  Finally, in the 60^th minute, Ivan Capitan-Carro (Baynot, Spain) put a shot on goal for the Saxons, but Mike Renna continued his reputation of maintaining a clean sheet, denying the speedy senior of a potential game-winning goal. 
 
AU was able to mount some offensive momentum with approximately 10 minutes left in regulation, however the Saxons were unable to get a clean shot on goal in attempt to break the tie.  The Ducks answered back with immense force, continually barraging the Saxons' back line with high arching balls.  However, the defense refused to let up a chance for the Ducks to break the tie.  Then in the 86^th minute, a ball was sent in high to Carson Pryor, who won a loose ball and headed the ball past the scrambling Gutierrez to presumably give the Ducks the 1-0 advantage.  However, the goal was called back by an offside call and the Saxons breathed a sigh of relief.  The strong AU defense would not let the momentum slip away, and continued to play the Ducks into a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation.
 
As both teams began to tire, neither could gain an advantage to break the deadlock in overtime.  Capitan-Carro made an attempt in the first overtime, dribbling into the Stevens eighteen, but he was cut off before he could mount a shot on goal.  After two overtimes, the score remained 0-0.
 
After four periods of back and forth play, it came down to penalty kicks to decide who would advance to the final.  It seemed the game would continue to remain tied, even into PK's as the first three shooters rattled their shots into the back of the net.  Then, Gutierrez made an incredible diving save to give AU the advantage.  Renna answered back with a diving save of his own, and the Ducks' Patrick Masur put a masterful shot into the upper ninety to tie the teams yet again in PK's.  Two more rounds ensued, with all shots meeting the back of the goal.  Finally, as the last Saxon stepped to the line and ripped a powerful shot, Renna made yet another fine save, giving the Ducks the victory.
 
With the win the Ducks move to their eighth consecutive Empire 8 final, where they are undefeated since entering the conference in 2007.  They will take on the winner second-seeded Ithaca and third-seeded Utica Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
 
With the tie, the season comes to a close for the Saxons, who battled against all odds to reach their first Empire 8 Championship tournament in 10 years. Alfred was picked in the preseason coaches' poll to finish last in the conference, but went 3-3-1 to finish fourth in the league standings.

The Saxons (9-7-3) will now wait word on whether they will play in an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship tournament. Bids and match sites for the eight-team ECAC tournaments will be announced Monday evening.