BEHREND MEN ADVANCE, FRANCISCAN MEN AND WOMEN FALL IN FIRST ROUND OF ECAC SOCCER TOURNAMENT
The top-seeded Penn State Behrend men's soccer team defeated Penn State Harrisburg 3-1 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament on Saturday afternoon.
Nearly the coldest Erie weather this year could not stop the Lions (16-4-1) from advancing to the ECAC second round. Behrend was able to fend off 17 Harrisburg (11-9) shots and three corner kicks to secure the win in the first-ever matchup between the two.
Seconds after being subbed into the match, freshman Richard Blanchard and sophomore Nick Kisiel combined with each other to find the first goal of the contest. Kisiel gathered just inside the opponent's side of the field and played a chip through-ball to Blanchard. With a defender on his hip, Blanchard took a few touches and released a shot near-post to give the Lions a lead 28 minutes in. Both teams fought for the rest of the half. Despite 11 total shots, and five saves between both goalies, neither team was able to find the back of the net.
Penn State Harrisburg quickly put themselves on the scoreboard in the second half however. Dustin Rohrbach tallied his first goal of the season just one minute and a half into the half to tie the score at one. The Lions would bounce back to take the lead once again seven minutes later. Just before the 53rd minute, Matt Dziadosz rifled a left-footed shot on net forcing goalkeeper Joshua Myers to make a diving save, resulting in a Behrend corner kick. The short corner was tapped to Aaron Harris who found defender Ryan Maurer on the opposite side of the field. Maurer roped a shot from 30 yards out that went just under the hand of goalkeeper Joshua Myers to give Behrend a lead they would not relinquish, notching his first career game-winner. Dziadosz added to his team-leading points, scoring his 10th goal to give him 31 points so far this season. Dakota Lange won the ball near midfield, and carried the ball down the sideline on a full sprint. Once he arrived at the 18-yard box, he crossed the ball to Dziadosz for a diving header goal in the 66th minute.
Penn State Harrisburg looked to cut the lead, but were unable to beat the Lions' defense, backed by goalie Chris Ralph who made six saves.
Behrend is looking for redemption when they face off against No. 2 Grove City tomorrow at noon in the ECAC Quarterfinals.
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The Franciscan University women's soccer team closed out their season with a 3-1 loss to Grove City College, Saturday morning, after earning a bid to the 2017 ECAC Women's Soccer tournament for the first time in program history.
Grove City (16-5) used a pair of goals in the second half to carry the Wolverines to victory while the Lady Barons (10-10) had one of the best scoring chances of the game in the beginning of the second. Junior keeper Sarah Luebking made a diving stop in the first 28 seconds of the second half that set up a corner kick for the Wolverines. The Lady Barons were able to clear the ball out and build through the midfield. Junior Eizabeth Dawyot got the ball in the center of the 18-yard box, about 11 yards out from net and her shot narrowly missed the inside of the post and ricocheted off across the backline.
The Wolverines were able to maintain possession on the other side of the field for much of the second half, and after two more stops by Luebking, Grove City was able to sneak a shot past Luebking to push its lead to 2-0 in the 54th minute.
Grove City took a 3-0 lead with just under 10 to play as the Wolverines took advantage of a loose ball off a tough save for Luebking. A Grove City corner kick sent the ball into the box, and a Wolverine got a point-blank shot off that Luebking stopped with her hands as she protected the goal line but Lacy Harkrader was there to pick up the rebound and put it over Luebking's stretch for the 3-0 lead.
Franciscan broke up the shutout as senior Megan Luiso took a quick pass from junior Elizabeth Dawyot in stride to power it past the Wolverine goalie for her 12th goal of the year with 2:43 to play in regulation and the score held 3-1 at the final horn.
Grove City out-shot the Lady Barons 28-4 while the Wolverines held a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks. Four different Lady Barons registered a shot while Luiso and senior Clare Kennedy each put their shot on net. Luebking tallied a career-high 15 saves in the loss for the Lady Barons.
Franciscan wraps up its season with an overall record of 10-10 after advancing to the AMCC tournament championship game for the first-time in program history and the ECAC tournament for the first time.
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The Franciscan men's soccer team's season came to a close Saturday afternoon as the Barons fell in overtime to Grove City, 2-1, in the opening round of the 2017 ECAC Men's Soccer Tournament.
After a scoreless second half, the Barons and Wolverines were tied 1-1. Grove City's Trent Strick took a pass from Jonathan Burton after a collision with the Baron keeper in the box and was able to loft the ball just inside the right post for the game-winner in overtime. The Barons were not without their chances late in the game as freshman JP Bobak's shot with 5:53 left went just barely wide of the net as the game remained tied after regulation.
The Barons struck first in the game, taking an early 1-0 lead, making the most of a rare open shot for Bobak. Senior Leo Herrmann lofted the ball into the box for Bobak who volleyed it into the top right corner, over an outstretched Wolverine keeper for his 10th goal of the season just 9:06 into the game.
The Wolverines tied the contest 7:10 later as Blake Baer went from right to left with a hard shot and snuck the ball into the far post for his fourth goal of the season.
Franciscan had one of its best scoring chances six minutes later as Bobak put a great corner kick in front of the goalie. Sophomore Ian Baldau's header was saved by a Grove City defender and sophomore Joseph Leonardi's follow up shot was stopped by the same defender to keep the game tied.
Grove City held an 18-5 advantage in shots and a 7-3 lead in corner kicks. Bobak led the Barons with a pair of shots while Herrmann, Leonardi and Baldau each had one.
Senior Thomas Dosedel finished the day with four saves.