After suffering a loss on Saturday against the reigning PSAC champions, Millersville University, the Slippery Rock men’s soccer team shut out Lake Erie College 3-0 Tuesday on Senior Night.
The Rock lost to Millersville University 2-1 in overtime. Senior defender Blake McChesney got the only goal of the game for SRU off of an assist from senior forward Michael Ramirez.
Millersville tied the game up midway through the second half and took the win with just 1:11 remaining in overtime.
On Tuesday, the Green and White held their annual Breast Cancer Awareness game and celebrated Senior Night.
McChesney, Ramirez, senior defender Drew Donoghue, and senior goalkeeper Clayton Master played their final game at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium on Tuesday. Their parents presented them with roses during the ceremony before the game started at 7 p.m.
Being a part of the team while at Slippery Rock has helped Master appreciate the opportunities he has been given in his college career.
“It’s pretty cool that you get to spend a part of your day with someone almost every day of your collegiate life,” Master said. “They become family away from family. They keep me sane.”
With only a few games left in the regular season, Master says that he reminds himself to continue having fun and to not take everything too seriously.
Master and the team went into Tuesday’s game focused and prepared to fight.
Sophomore forward Chris Davis had a great performance against Erie and recorded two goals in the first half and an assist in the second.
Davis’ first goal came in the 11th minute of the game after he broke free from three defenders and took a shot on the inside of the far post.
Later in the half, Davis was denied a header by Erie’s Filip Ljubevski. Moments later, Davis cashed in his second goal of the game with diving header off of a corner kick.
“I was actually highly upset with myself because I didn’t score the diving header the first time,” Davis said. “It added fuel to the fire for me to get another one and redeem myself. When I got, it I felt very relieved.”
After each of Davis’s goals, the team ran over to the corner with him to celebrate.
“The adrenaline rush was huge,” Davis said. “I turned around and saw all my teammates chasing after me. I couldn’t do anything else but smile.”
Slippery Rock went into the half with a 2-0 lead. Davis said that even with the 2-0 lead, the team had to stay focused and not get too comfortable.
Junior forward Thad Madzelonka took an assist from Davis in the 69th minute of the game to increase SRU’s lead to 3-0.
The Rock’s defense and Master were able to keep the Storm from scoring any goals the remainder of the game to record their fourth shut-out of the season.
Master has a lot of hope for the team in the future.
“They’ll be a very talented team with a lot of chemistry,” Master said. “The majority of the team will be back and have more experience than they already have.”
Davis said that the he has learned a lot from the seniors.
“One big thing that I have learned from the seniors is that to get respect, you have to respect those with higher authority than you do,” Davis said.
Slippery Rock will play their final three games on the road, closing the regular season with two PSAC matchups against Gannon University and Lock Haven University.
SRU heads to West Virginia Wesleyan University Saturday for a non-conference game at 7 p.m.
