The women's soccer team won its seventh Empire 8 Championship today at Carp Wood Field by shutting out Nazareth College  2–0.

The Blue and Gold earned the conference’s automatic bid to the Women’s Soccer Division III NCAA playoffs, and will find out their opponent when the playoff pairings are announced tomorrow.

Freshman forward Rachael Palladino scored both goals in the game and was named the tournament’s co-Most Valuable Player along with senior forward and midfielder Amy Scheffer.

Head Coach Mindy Quigg said the team needed to aggressively pursue the net and make Nazareth junior goalie Hilary Simon uncomfortable between the posts if they wanted to advance.

“We needed to pressure their backs and force their goalkeeper to move around, keep our balance in the back and respect their speed up top,” she said.

Palladino scored her first goal early in the fifth minute off a pass from sophomore forward and midfielder Megan Trager to help set the tone for Ithaca. Palladino said she was happy to play a significant role in the team’s victory after struggling to find the back of the net in recent games. She said all-around hustle led the team to victory.

“We were able to dominate the middle, win every 50-50 ball to bring [Nazareth] out of their game and shut down some of their key players,” she said.

Both teams were aggressive throughout the match, as Palladino took a hard hit from Nazareth junior defender Kara Eaker in the 34th minute. She sat out the rest of the first half before returning to score her second goal, which was also assisted by Trager, in the 46th minute.

Junior defender Andrea Janda and sophomore defender Andi Roach shut down Nazareth’s leading scorer Erica Conte with a 4-5-1 defense that created double teams to force clears.

Roach said communication was vital to executing the defensive formation and attack.

“We had to make sure we stayed dropped in during the second half and keep communication going between us,” she said.

Palladino’s 12 goals and team-high 31 points on the season are new freshman records in the program.

The Bombers will be making their 19th NCAA playoff appearance, the most of any team in Division III.