The Slippery Rock University men’s soccer team (3-3) lost 3-1 at Millersville University (2-4-1) Wednesday afternoon.
The first goal of the game was scored by Millersville’s freshman forward Jonathan Dadeboe in the 47th minute.
Rock sophomore forward Matt Sangermano scored in 67th minute to tie the game at one, thanks to an assist from sophomore midfielder Josh Allman.
Sangermano’s goal was his second goal of the season, and Allman’s assist was also his second on the year.
“The first half was probably some of the best soccer we’ve played this entire season,” SRU head coach Andy Hoggarth said. “You look at the score line and it looked like a big defeat, but the fact that we out-shot them 19-10 showed just how strong we played. The three goals we conceded were just three mistakes. We just have to get better defensively and work a little bit harder in the second half while cutting out those simple mistakes.”
Millersville reclaimed the lead in the 74th minute, when junior forward Jaime Vasquez scored his fourth goal of the season with a header on a cross from freshman defender Ahmed Qaisi.
Millersville added one more goal before the game ended. The ball bounced off of a Rock defender’s head and into the back of the net.
The goal was also credited to Vasquez, who took the shot before the ball had been deflected.
Despite coming away with the loss, the Green and White held advantages in many statistical categories. The Rock outshot Millersville 19-10.
SRU shot six on target, compared to Millersville’s five shots on target. Senior forward Dom Francis led the Green and White with four shots.
Junior forward Peter Boylan, sophomore midfielder Mike Pcholinsky, and senior defender Josh Brake had two shots each. Senior forward Stephen Donnelly, senior midfielder Brandon Chiu also had two shots each.
Senior midfielder Anthony Jack had one shot.
SRU had 12 fouls and Millersville had 14 fouls.
Sophomore goalkeeper Steven Rerick was guarding SRU’s net for the entire 90 minutes of action.
Rerick saw five Millersville shots that were on target, saving two them and allowing three to get by for goals.
Rerick now has 35 saves on the season with a save percentage of .729, while allowing 13 goals to get by on the year.
“We’re 3-3 and 1-1 in the conference, so I don’t believe it’s exactly crunch time for us just yet,” Hoggarth said. “We got that win at California University and we had the opportunities to put the game asleep against Millersville. We just need to cash in on our opportunities and cut out the individual errors. It’s time to live up to expectations, get the job down and maybe win a championship.”
The Rock will return home for a PSAC match up against Shippensburg University (3-2-1) at 1 p.m. on Saturday at James Egli Field.
