The Slippery Rock University men’s soccer team lost a narrow 1-0 competition in a non-conference match-up against Lake Erie College Sunday afternoon at James Egli Field.
“It was a good crowd and a good game overall, but that’s just how things go sometimes,” Rock head coach Steve Small said.
The deciding play of the game occurred in the 60th minute when what appeared to be a solid defensive stop by Slippery Rock (0-2) was called a penalty and resulted in a penalty kick for Lake Erie (2-0). Andrew Bucur was able to place his attempt past Rock junior goalkeeper Jonathan Sharp to give The Storm a one-goal lead.
Slippery Rock was unable to produce a game-tying goal in the final 30 minutes. The Rock’s lone corner attempt over that time span was successfully defended by Lake Erie and senior Mike Pcholinsky’s shot in the 85th minute was blocked as the Storm managed to hold off SRU for the win.
“We have to find a way to put the ball in the back of the net,” Small said. “We have a week to figure it out, so hopefully we can sort out who wants to put the ball in the back of the net for us because we have been playing well defensively.”
Pcholinsky was responsible for both of The Rock’s shots of the day. Sharp played all 90 minutes, making three saves in Slippery Rock’s second straight 1-0 defeat.
“We knew how they (Lake Erie) were going to be and we needed to rise above it, but still play our game and not fall into their trap which is what they were trying to do,” Small said. “Overall, the guy’s efforts were fantastic today so we will take that to build and get ready for conference play.”
For the game, Slippery Rock held a 4-2 advantage over Lake Erie in corner kicks while the Storm held a 4-0 edge over SRU in shots on goal.
Slippery Rock opens Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play at Shippensburg University 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 10 in what will be the first of three straight road matches for The Rock.
Following its game against Shippensburg, SRU will play at California (Pa.) (Sept. 13) and Millersville University (Sept. 17) before returning home for three consecutive games.
