The Slippery Rock University men’s soccer team traveled to Wheeling, WV on Wednesday evening for a non-conference match with the Wheeling Jesuit men’s soccer team at Bishop Schmitt stadium in front of a crowd of 109 fans. The Rock rode a strong first half to a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals.
In the 8th minute, the Rock took the lead when freshman forward Hayden Seifert assisted on junior midfielder Justin Minda’s goal. Seifert threaded a ball, from the right flank through the box to the front of the net, which was calmly collected by Minda and slotted home from 10 yards out. The strike at 8:24 gave the Rock a 1-0 lead.
In the 33rd minute, the Rock doubled the lead when junior midfielder George Oakley assisted Seifert’s goal. The Rock was awarded a corner kick when a Cardinal defender cleared the ball through the end line. Oakley sent a beautiful ball from the right corner which found Seifert who beat the Cardinal keeper Tyler Shotwell for a goal into the right corner of the net. The goal at 33:11 extended the lead to 2-0 for the Rock.
In the 83rd minute, the Cardinals cut the deficit to a single goal when Bryce Porter assisted on Matt Vogt’s goal. The Rock cleared the ball through the right sideline which awarded the Cardinals a throw-in. Porter threw the ball in from the right side which was found at the high point by Matt Vogt who headed the ball past the Rock senior goalkeeper Steven Rerick. The strong header at 83:12 narrowed the Rock lead to 2-1.
The Rock and the Cardinals traded shots in the 85th and 86th minute but the Rock held on for a 2-1 win over their non-conference opponent.
The Cardinals outshot the Rock 16 (7) to 8(5) through the match and could not capitalize on many their chances due to a strong performance from Rerick. The Rock goalkeeper recorded 6 saves while his Cardinals counterpart recorded 3.
Minda and Seifert supplied the Rock with the 2 goals, first of the season for both players, while Seifert and Oakley provided the assists, their second and eighth of the season respectively. The two-point effort for Seifert gave him a strong shot for Man of the Match along with goalkeeper Rerick. Seifert also led The Rock in shots with 3 (2 on goal) while Oakley and Minda attempted 2 shots (one on goal each). Freshman forward Sean Tinney recorded one shot.
With the win, Slippery Rock moves to 5-9-3 (.382) with a 3-5-2 (.400) PSAC record while Wheeling Jesuit falls to 4-10-2 (.312) with a 2-8-1 (.227) MEC record. The Rock moves to 8th in the PSAC while the Cardinals fall to 6th in the MEC.
Slippery Rock will close out the regular season on the road in Shippensburg, PA with a PSAC match against Shippensburg University this Saturday, October 28th at 1:00 PM. The Rock will hope to finish the season a high note, hopefully carry a 2-match win streak into next season.
