The Rock kept its conference record unblemished as they beat California University 3-1 Tuesday at James Egli Field, improving its record to 4-1 overall, and 2-0 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play.
Things looked bleak for SRU when Cal U’s senior striker Jesse Scheirer scored the first goal of the game just 3:44 into the first half.
“We started slow and fell a goal behind,” SRU coach Andy Hoggarth said. “Once we got into rhythm we took control.”
SRU took control in a big way, scoring the game’s next three goals, putting the clamp down on defense and firing shot after shot at the Vulcans goalkeeper.
Despite the barrage of shots, the Vulcan senior goalkeeper Aaron Donley stood tall until the 43rd minute in the first half. After Peter Boylan was fouled hard on a breakaway, which resulted in a red card for Eleazar Luciano from the Vulcans. SRU’s own Ryan Lutke scored his team leading fourth goal on the penalty kick, all of which have come on penalty kicks.
The Rock didn’t want to go into the half tied, and took full advantage of the extra man. Just over a minute after the first goal Matt Sangermano rifled a shot past the Vulcan goalkeeper, off a pass from Devin Hoffman. The goal was Sangermano’s second of the year, and Hoffman’s assist led was his point of his collegiate career.
In the second half, The Rock didn’t let up and recorded 11 more shots. Unfortunately for the Vulcans, the only one that found the back of the net was shot in by their own team. With a 3-1 lead, The Rock put away the Vulcans and showed their resilience after falling behind early.
“We didn’t let starting slow affect us,” Hoggarth said. “We knew that was unacceptable and made it our driving force.”
That driving force was way more than the Vulcans could handle, in all aspects of the game. The Rock held an advantage in shots (19-11), shots on goal (12-2), and corners (7-3).
The SRU defense was just as impressive as the offense. After allowing that first shot to go in, The Rock defense only allowed one more shot on goal. That really put down any hope the Vulcans had in getting back in the game.
The team looked strong, but Hoggarth still saw one big improvement that can still be made.
He believes that his team needs to start making the opportunities count.
He also said that when you get 19 shots, you need to find the back of the net more than twice.
Overall though, he thought his team played well, and hopes they continue the good play when they host Millersville to James Egli Field on Saturday.
