Second half goals by graduate students Ben Cross and Mike Springer carried the University of Rochester to a 2-0 victory over St. John Fisher College in the semifinal round of the ECAC Upstate Men's Soccer Championships at Edwin Fauver Stadium.

Rochester, the tournament's top seed, will play second-seeded SUNY Plattsburgh in Sunday's championship game at 1 pm. This will be the third time in four years these two teams meet for the ECAC Upstate Championship, with Rochester winning in Plattsburgh in 2001 and here in Fauver Stadium in 2002. Rochester has won the last four ECAC titles.

Both Rochester goals came after the Cardinal defense was unable to clear the ball. Two minutes into the second half, a left wing pass from Rochester's Nate Micklos was blocked by a Fisher fullback. The ball rolled free. Cross collected it at the top of the box, moved laterally to the right, and unleashed a low shot under the dive of Pete Schatz. It hit the inside of the left post and caromed into the net at 46:32.

With just under 15 minutes to play, Rochester's Eric Jablonka swung the ball over from right wing. A Fisher fullback tried to head it clear, but the ball glanced into the middle of the box where Springer was able to head it above Schatz and just under the crossbar at 75:23.

Minutes before the Springer goal, Fisher attacked down the middle. A pass found Ricky Martinez on left wing. He cut into the box and fired from 20 yards away, just as Rochester goalkeeper Aaron Bernstein charged off the line. Bernstein deflected the ball for a corner kick and Springer headed the ensuing corner clear.

Schatz made two saves and his defense cleared two balls. Bernstein made two saves and Springer had another – clearing a shot from in front with the game scoreless in the first half. Rochester is 13-2-4 overall. St. John Fisher finishes 10-10-1. The Cardinals advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-5 penalty kick shootout win over fifth-seeded Alfred after a 0-0 draw through regulation and overtime.

Schatz, Springer, and Cross played together at Rochester as freshmen when the Yellowjackets began their ECAC championship run in 2000. Schatz was the goalkeeper in ECACs for wins over Geneseo and Nazareth that gave Rochester the crown.

In the afternoon's second semifinal, SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Brockport battled to a 1-1 tie after regulation and two overtime periods, but Plattsburgh was victorious in the penalty kick shootout 5-4.

After a scoreless first half, Plattsburgh got on the board just over a minute into the second half when Eric Skivington's attempted cross in front of the goal mouth was deflected into the net by a Brockport defender at 46:09. Brockport rallied back after the own goal with a flurry of scoring opportunities throughout the rest of the half. The Golden Eagles knotted the score at 1-1 when Mike Abgarian headed home a cross from Greg Finch at 78:06. The two teams battled to a deadlock the rest of the way and the outcome was determined by Plattsburgh's shootout victory.

Goalkeeper Zach Manning made 5 saves in net for Plattsburgh (15-3-3 overall). Shaun Ernewein made 7 saves for Brockport (13-4-3). Brockport outshot Plattsburgh 14-13.