Slippery Rock men’s soccer took on Bloomsburg University in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Semifinals at Steph Pettit Stadium earlier today.
Bloomsburg won out in triple overtime and will advance to the championships.
The Huskies started the first half with a corner kick three minutes in, which led to the game’s first shot, but it was off target. After three fouls on Bloomsburg and three freekicks by SRU, Aitor Jorde gave The Rock their first shot, but it was blocked.
Both teams were putting up a fight, with neither team getting another scoring opportunity for another 13 minutes, until the Huskies came in with a shot that was blocked by Slippery Rock’s Adam Davies.
The senior goalkeeper has 54 saves this season.
After a corner kick, Bloomsburg got a shot off but missed. A minute later, Adrian Rodriguez got another shot and still couldn’t find the back of the net.
The first half ended with a final shot by the Huskies’ Anthony Schlee that was blocked, leaving both teams scoreless.
The White and Green opened the second half with a shot two minutes in that was blocked.
Defense was strong on both sides after that with no one getting a shot attempt for 20 minutes until SRU’s Arturo Pla Hernandis, saved by Huskies’ Brady Rimple. The Rock got another attempt four minutes later that was also saved.
Bloomsburg was the first score with a goal by Owen Hollobaugh. The Rock quickly turned it around with a goal of their own scored by Aaron Finney. It was the senior’s fourth goal of the season.
The Huskies tried to make a comeback shortly after with two shot attempts but came up empty.
Five more combined shot attempts came from both teams, but the half ended in a tie.
Slippery Rock came out strong in the first period of overtime with two shot attempts in the first three minutes. Another one came five minutes later but still could not break the tie.
The Rock’s defense put up a good front, keeping the Huskies from getting any scoring opportunities at all in the period.
The second period of overtime was a lot of back-and-forth, with both teams only getting one score attempt and coming up empty. The game went into a shootout.
The first shootout attempt was a miss made by SRU’s Hernandis, while the Huskies made their shot. The White and Green made their next four attempts, and the Huskies made their next three. Both teams’ fifth attempts were a miss. Bloomsburg made their sixth attempt which ended the game.
Hernandis led the team with Will Harrigan recording three shots during the game. Shaun Spencer, Will Harrigan and Aitor Jorde tallied two.
