ERIE, Pa. – Mercyhurst University and the 17th-ranked Mercyhurst men's soccer team will host the PSAC conference tournament this Saturday and Sunday. The two semifinal games will take place on Saturday with Mercyhurst taking on Millersville at 11:00 a.m. followed by West Chester-Slippery Rock at 1:30 p.m. The Championship game will be held on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
Mercyhurst finished its regular season 12-5-1 overall and 7-2 in the PSAC. The Lakers earned the regular season championship after beating Gannon University last Saturday. The Lakers outscored their opponents 35-15 throughout the regular season, and average 1.94 points per game. The Lakers will compete against Millersville on Saturday, November 3 at 11:00 a.m. The last time these two teams met, the Lakers came out on top, shutting out Millersville 3-0 back on September 29. Senior Austin Solomon, sophomore Fernando Martinez, and senior Alex Manea all scored a goal in the victory. Mercyhurst also defeated Slippery Rock 1-0 and lost to West Chester 2-1 during the regular season.
Manea leads the Lakers with 11 goals and five assists for 27 points. Martinez has chipped in with seven goals and six assists for 20 points. Senior goalkeeper Diego Gustin is 11-5-1 with a 0.81 goals against average and eight shutouts.
Millersville enters with a 9-8-1 overall mark and finished 6-3 in the PSAC regular season. The Marauders outscored their opponents 34-29 throughout their regular season, including their win over California (Pa.) in the PSAC quarter finals on Thursday. The match against California (Pa.) went into ten rounds of penalty shots, where Millersville won 8-7 in the penalty kicks. Millersville fell to the Lakers 3-0 at Mercyhurst on September 29. Millersville goaltender Chris Schneider made seven saves in 90:00 minutes. Forward Matt Kadoch led the Marauders in shots with two.
Millersville defeated Slippery Rock 2-1 and lost to West Chester 3-2 in double overtime during the regular season. Kadoch leads the Marauders with seven goals and three assists for 17 points. Andrew Dukes also has 17 points this season – five goals and seven assists. Brad Benzing and Chris Schneider shared duties in goal. Benzing went 6-2-1 with a 1.24 goals against average while Schneider went 2-5-0 with a 1.90 goals against average.
Slippery Rock University enters with a 10-3-6 overall record and 4-3-2 in the PSAC. Slippery Rock competed against Gannon University on Thursday during the PSAC quarterfinals. In the last 30 seconds of the second overtime, Ryan Lutke scored the game-winning goal to advance The Rock to the Semifinals against West Chester. The last time Slippery Rock played West Chester was October 9, where Slippery Rock scored two early goals to shut out the Golden Rams. Forwards Stephen Donnelly and Chris Davis scored the goals, while goaltender Clayton Master made four saves in the 2-0 victory.
Davis has six goals and three assists to lead The Rock in scoring with 15 points. Donnelly finished second with five goals and two assists for 12 points. Master posted a 9-3-6 record with a 0.76 goals against average and eight shutouts during the season.
West Chester University finished its regular season 8-7-2 overall and 6-2-1 in the conference. West Chester finished second in the PSAC regular season and received a bye during the quarterfinals. West Chester outscored its opponents 25-20 throughout the season. West Chester fell to Slippery Rock in its last contest, 2-0. West Chester goaltender Garrett Bleiler made four saves in the entire 90:00 of play. Forward Conor Malarney led West Chester with five shots, three of them on net.
Kevin McCann and Malarney were the only two Golden Rams to have double-digit points this season. McCann had six goals for 12 points while Malarney had three goals and four assists for ten points. Bleiler saw most of the time in goal for West Chester and finished with an 8-5-2 record with a 1.17 goals against average.
Mercyhurst will compete against Millersville on Saturday, November 3 at 11:00 a.m. at the Mercyhurst Soccer Field. The West Chester/Slippery Rock match will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The winners of both games will move on to the Championship on Sunday, November 4, at noon.
Due to multiple events on campus, fans are encouraged to arrive early for optimal parking. We ask that you enter through either the main entrance of the campus gates (off of 38th street), or use the Briggs Avenue entrance of campus. Please do not use the Parade Boulevard entrance. The Parade entrance will be used for team buses only.
