SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's soccer team set a new single-season school record for victories with an impressive 5-0 victory over Slippery Rock in a PSAC semifinal on Wednesday night from David See Field. SU will host East Stroudsburg at 6 p.m. Saturday in the conference championship match after the Warriors earned a 1-0 victory over No. 8 Millersville.
Shippensburg (14-5) won its 11th consecutive match with gusto, setting an aggressive tempo and converting on several splendid passing plays to achieve the most lopsided victory in a PSAC tournament match since 2003. The Red Raiders will be appearing in their first PSAC championship game since 1988 and are seeking their first conference title since 1975.
SU established the momentum early, striking for a goal in the seventh minute of play. A solid pass from senior
Dave Rostad found the foot of senior
Miles Harriger, who, in a one-on-one matchup, evaded his defender enough to rip a beautiful volley into the top left corner of the net. Harriger's 11th goal of the season put SU up 1-0 at 6:34.
Slippery Rock (11-7-1) played tough during the first half, but the Raiders capitalized on a pretty passing play to achieve a 2-0 lead that would last to the intermission. In the 28th minute, freshman
Derrick Roy tapped in a nice touch pass from sophomore
Bill Heatherly. The two players had only entered the match as substitutes just 95 seconds before the goal.
A good cross and a fortunate bounce helped SU build a 3-0 lead less than four minutes into the second half. Sophomore
Michael Celius, whose speed on the wing led to several scoring opportunities on Wednesday, crossed a ball into the middle that Rostad nudged toward the goal. The shot changed direction after hitting an SRU defender and trickled into the right side of the goal.
Roy, one of the league's top freshman, scored his second goal of the game and seventh of the season in the 68th minute thanks to the efforts of sophomore
Jonathan DeNicola – who navigated tight quarters and fought off the advances of two defenders to set up the score. An own goal at the 85-minute mark concluded the scoring.
The visitors manufactured several solid scoring chances in the match – totaling nine shots during each half – but could not find the back of the net against the Red Raiders. Slippery Rock earned a 4-1 decision in the previous meeting between the two teams on September 25, but the Red Raiders have not lost since.
Sophomore
Clay Sale made a season-high nine saves to help Shippensburg earn its seventh shutout of the season.
Notes: Shippensburg set a new school record for goals in a season on Wednesday night, having totaled 49 through 19 matches…the 1989 team scored 48 goals in 18 matches…the new school record for victories surpassed the previous school mark of 13, achieved in 1989 and 1996…SU has also established a new school record for the longest unbeaten streak, a feat previously held by the 1970 squad (10 games - 9 wins and a tie)…head coach
Jeremy Spering earned his first career coaching victory in four tries against his alma mater…the victory snapped a nine-game winless streak against Slippery Rock that dated back to Sept. 25, 2004.
