Slippery Rock - 2009 PSAC men's soccer champions
Box Score
Slippery Rock, Pa. - Jeremy Deighton scored a goal and assisted on the other as Slippery Rock raced out to a 2-0 advantage and with the help of playing a man up for all of the second half and the final 10 minutes of the first half, held on for a 2-1 victory over Millersville to claim the 2009 PSAC men's soccer championship.
The championship is the first for Slippery Rock since 2005. Millersville, which had the best regular season record in the PSAC for the second straight year, fell in the tournament championship for the second straight year. Both The Rock and the Marauders will likely be selected to play in the NCAA Tournament. Pairings will be announced on Monday. The top seed will host a four-team regional next weekend. Millersville entered the weekend ranked No. 1 in the region while Rock was No. 2.
Deighton gave Rock a 1-0 lead at the 30:29 mark when Millersville keeper Matt Langione came out of the net and Deighton headed in a pass from Kenneth Fultz for the lead. Just three minutes later, Langione was sent off with a red card for touching the ball outside of the box, and the Marauders were forced to play a man down for the remainder of the game.
Iain Langstone made it 2-0 in favor of The Rock when he took a pass from Deighton and beat the new Millersville keeper, Kurt Pleier, one-on-one at the 50:58 mark. Just under 10 minutes later, Millersville managed to score a goal short-handed as Kyle Loughlin drilled in a shot from 15 yards out, unassisted. From that point, however, Millersville was only able to manage three more shots for the remainder of the game.
Rock outshot Millersville 12-10, but Millersville had more corner kicks, 6-4, but was unable to capitalize on any of them.
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Links to Live Stats, Audio and Twitter Updates (via host Slippery Rock site)
Story Courtesy of Slippery Rock Sports Information
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 12th-ranked Slippery Rock University men’s soccer team will host top-ranked Millersville Saturday night in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship game. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.
The Rock (16-3-1) advanced to the title game for the first time since winning the championship in 2005 after edging Mercyhurst in a penalty shootout Wednesday in Erie. After the teams played to a 1-1 draw through double overtime, Slippery Rock emerged with a 6-5 win in the shootout to advance. The Rock is ranked 12th in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll and second in the Division II Selection Committee’s Atlantic Regional rankings.
Millersville (17-1-0) reached its second consecutive PSAC final by defeating Bloomsburg, 2-0, Wednesday night in Millersville. The Marauders, ranked No. 1 in the nation by the NSCAA and No. 1 in the Atlantic Region by the Division II Selection Committee, will be making their sixth trip to the PSAC title game. Millersville has come up empty handed in each of its five previous trips, including last season when California (Pa.) rallied to win 3-2 at Millersville.
These two teams have been a staple in the national rankings this season and have been ranked first and second in every Atlantic Regional poll released during the season.
Ticket Information and Live Coverage
Tickets for Saturday’s PSAC final will be sold at the gate. The conference charges $7 for adult admission and $2 for students. All students that attend a PSAC institution are admitted free with a valid ID.
The Rock sports information office will offer three ways to follow the action live for fans that cannot attend. Live stats, a live audio broadcast and live Twitter updates will be available throughout the game.
Live stats can be found at: http://www.sidearmstats.com/sru/msoc/
The live audio broadcast can be heard by clicking the ‘Listen Live’ button on the right hand side of the Rock Athletics homepage or by visiting the DIRECT LINK HERE. Rock sports information student-workers Sean Holliday and Courtney Hoover will call the game.
Live Twitter updates, which fans can receive directly on their mobile phones, will be available to all followers of the Rock Athletics Twitter site at http://twitter.com/Rock_Athletics. Fans do not have to become a member to see updates on the Twitter site, but will not be able to receive updates on their mobile devices without becoming a member.
Scouting The Rock
Slippery Rock owns a 16-3-1 overall record, one win shy of the school record of 17 wins, and will play in its first PSAC final since winning the title in 2005. The Rock owns a 9-0 record at home this season and has not lost in Slippery Rock since suffering a 3-0 setback against California (Pa.) Nov. 1, 2008 at Egli Field. The Rock has not lost a game on the turf at Thompson Stadium since a 2-1 loss to Lock Haven Sept. 23, 2008.
The Rock is led by reigning PSAC-West Player of the Year Jeremy Deighton, who is also one of the top candidates to earn the honor again this season. Deighton leads the PSAC in goals, points and game-winning goals. He has tallied 16 goals, six assists and eight game-winning goals.
Freshman Benjamin Lloyd is nominated for the PSAC-West Rookie of the Year honor this season and ranks second on the team in scoring with four goals and seven assists. Kenneth Fultz has tallied five goals and two assists and Toby Bowser has scored two goals and matched Lloyd with a team-high seven assists to round out the scorers with double figure points.
Iain Langstone has three goals, including one in each of the last two games, and also has two assists. Defenders Thomas Pool, Alex Swartz and Patrick Conley have all scored three goals and added one assist.
Anthony Paganie has one goal and five assists, while Ryan Pindroh has two goals. Mitchell Walters rounds out the goal scorers with one goal and three assists.
Shaun Reid has assisted three goals this season, with Josh Gauger adding two assists and Michael Ramirez and Tynan Smith each registering their first collegiate point with one assist.
Greg Blum has started 19 games this season in goal and has posted a 15-3-1 record with eight shutouts. He has a goals against average of 0.77 after allowing just 14 goals in 1630 minutes between the posts. He has 77 saves for a save percentage of .846. Blum ranks second in the PSAC in shutouts and goals against average and ranks in the top five in save percentage, total saves and saves per game. Timothy White has appeared in five games with one start and has not allowed a goal in 201 minutes. He has made eight saves.
The Rock has outscored opponents 43-14 on the season. Slippery Rock is coached by Matthew Thompson in his eighth season. He is assisted by Kevin Wilhelm, Chris Logan and Patrick Cormac.
Scouting the Marauders
Millersville owns a 17-1-0 overall record and vaulted to the No. 1 ranking in the country this week when previously unbeaten Lees-McRae dropped its first game of the season. The Marauders marched through the PSAC East with an unblemished record for the second consecutive year. Millersville’s only loss of the season, a 3-2 overtime defeat, came on the road at Wilmington (Del.) on Sept. 16.
The Marauders are led by Kyle Laughlin with 12 goals and five assists. He ranks third in the PSAC in points and fourth in goals. Pat Baffuto has six goals and five assists, while Aaron Roland has five goals and one assist to rank third on the team. Matt Wilson has added four goals and two assists and Dan Prian has three goals and four assists to round out the double figure scorers.
Anthony Pagnotti has found the net four times and has one assist, while Adam Keller has scored once and assisted five goals. Ethan Daubert has two goals and two assists and Todd Grimm has added two goals and one assist. Steve Melnick and Joseph Chilutti each have one goal, while Melnick adding three assists and Chilutti two.
Thomas Bargmann handed out three assists and Eric Pepper has two assists to round out the team’s scorers.
Matt Langione has started 18 games in goal for Millersville and owns a 17-1 record with 11 shutouts. Langione leads the league in goals against average at 0.63 after allowing 11 goals in 1561 minutes. Langione is further down the goalkeeper standings in terms of saves and save percentage, having only faced 49 shots on goal all season. He has 38 saves for a .776 save percentage. Kurt Pleier has appeared in two games and has allowed no goals in nearly 65 minutes of work.
Millersville has outscored opponents 44-11 on the season. The Marauders are coached by Steve Widdowson in his third season. He is assisted by Steve Small and Pete Shellenberger.
A look at the Schedules
Slippery Rock will enter the PSAC Championship game having at least one win over each of the top-ranked teams in the Atlantic Region, with the exception of Millersville. The Rock posted a 1-0 record against Charleston (ranked 3rd), a 1-1-1 record against Mercyhurst, a 1-1 record against California (Pa.) and defeated Davis & Elkins by a 5-0 score. The Rock is 1-1 against teams currently ranked in the top-25, posting a win over Charleston (ranked 18th) and falling 1-0 against Ashland (ranked 23rd).
Millersville has not played any of the five teams ranked No. 2-6 in the region. The Marauders lost their only game of the season against a currently ranked opponent, falling in overtime at Wilmington (ranked 13th nationally).
Last Year
Millersville avenged a regular-season loss to Slippery Rock with a 1-0 victory in the NCAA Round of 16 on Nov. 16, 2008 in Millersville. The Rock won last season’s regular season meeting, 2-1, in Millersville on Sept. 27.