PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Getting to play in the NCAA tournament is special and for St. John Fisher men’s soccer, they’ve been working at that goal for years. This past Saturday, the team finally punched its ticket — just the second time the program has gone to the big dance.

“Don’t think it’s really going to hit me until I step foot on the field on Saturday,” said goalie Christian Burkhardt.

A feeling few college athletes get to feel and a feeling the Cardinals have been yearning for for years.

“The program has lost three years in a row in penalties in playoffs,” said senior Jack McGinnis.

In fact, the heartbreak goes back even further in spring 2021. The Cardinals did win the Empire State, but there was no national tournament because of COVID-19.

“For our guys to now be able to experience it and see their name come up on the screen, it means the world,” said head coach Jack Burgasser.

After an 8-1-3 conference record, the Cards earned top billing in the Empire 8 playoffs.

“Doesn’t matter if we let zero goals and doesn’t matter if we let in four,” Burkhardt said. “As long as we got what the team’s goal was.”

In the conference semifinals, Fisher found itself in the same situation as the previous three years and three defeats — penalty kicks.

“It was like, kind of our destiny,” McGinnis said. “I could, I could feel this year, after so many years of losing in penalties, that it was finally our chance and, it showed every guy that stood up and took a penalty went four for four.”

The Cardinals won the Empire 8 Title on Saturday and had to wait until Monday to find out who their round one opponent would be.

“Kind of felt surreal,” McGinnis said of seeing the Cardinals pop up on the NCAA selection show. “You’ve seen videos of other programs, have their name pop up. And finally, for us to pop up with 15 seniors, it’s pretty great.”

The Cardinals will travel to Babson College for the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday.

“We’ve just been enjoying it and going along for the ride is the biggest thing,” said the team’s leading scorer Joey Avalonne.