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Millersville vs. Charleston Live Audio
Slippery Rock vs. Mercyhurst Live Audio
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University will play host to the first two rounds of the NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Tournament this weekend. This preview includes a look at all four teams, as well as information on ticket prices and live coverage.

Slippery Rock (17-3-1) earned the top seed in the Atlantic Region after defeating previously top-ranked Millersville in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship game. The Division II Selection Committee awarded The Rock with the right to host the opening two rounds of the tournament.

Millersville (17-2-0) dropped to second in the Atlantic Region. Chareleston (W. Va.) cemented its position as the third seed after winning the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title over Davis & Elkins to bring its season record to 17-3-0. Mercyhurst held on to its fourth seed in the region with an overall record of 14-5-1.

Schedule

#2 Millersville will face #3 Charleston in the opening game of the tournament, set for 2 p.m. Friday Nov. 13. #1 Slippery Rock will play #4 Mercyhurst at 5 p.m. Friday. The winners of Friday’s matches will meet Sunday at 2 p.m. to determine which team will advance to the National Quarterfinals. All games will be played on the turf at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.

Tickets

The NCAA mandates that all spectators must have a ticket to attend National Tournament games. Tickets will be sold at the gate and will be $7 for adults. Students with ID, senior citizens and children between the ages of 2-12 will be $5. Children under two will be admitted with an adult for no charge.

Credentials

Working media and athletic or administrative officials from the participating institutions must request a credential by Thursday at noon. All credential requests can be submitted to Jon Holtz by emailing your name and organization to jonathan.holtz@sru.edu. If approved, your credential will be left at the gate. The Slippery Rock sports information office reserves the right to deny any credentials or to revoke credentials that are misused.

Live Coverage

For fans that cannot attend, the Slippery Rock sports information office will provide live statistics and a live audio broadcast through its official athletics Web site. The live statistics for each game can be found HERE.

Live audio for the Millersville vs. Charleston game can be found HERE.

Live audio for the Slippery Rock vs. Mercyhurst game can be found HERE.

A preview of Sunday’s championship game, which will include a direct link to the audio broadcast, will be posted at www.RockAthletics.com Saturday.

Twitter updates will also be available for all games that Slippery Rock plays in at The Rock’s official Twitter site: http://twitter.com/Rock_Athletics.

Game One Preview (Millersville vs. Charleston, Friday at 2 p.m.)

Millersville will be the “home” team in the opening game by way of earning the second seed in the Atlantic Region. The Marauders are making their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament after reaching the quarterfinals last season.

Millersville posted a 17-2-0 overall record this season with losses on the road at Wilmington and at Slippery Rock in the PSAC title game. The Marauders marched through the PSAC-Eastern Division without a loss for the second consecutive season.

PSAC-East Player of the Year Kyle Laughlin leads Millersville, ranked fourth in the final regular season poll released by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Laughlin earned the PSAC-East’s top honor Tuesday when the All-League teams were released. He has scored 13 goals and added five assists for 31 points. Laughlin also leads the team with six game-winning goals.

Pat Baffuto ranks second on the team in scoring with six goals and five assists for 17 points. Aaron Roland has scored five goals and added one assist, while Matt Wilson has scored four goals and assisted on two others. Dan Prian rounds out the double-digit point scorers with three goals and four assists.

Millersville’s defense has been one of its strong points all season, with Marauder keepers only being forced to face 58 shots on goal.

Millersville will open the playoffs without the help of starting goalkeeper Matt Langione, who was red-carded in the PSAC final against Slippery Rock. Langione has allowed 12 goals in 1595 minutes for a goals against average of 0.68. He has made 40 saves for a save percentage of .769.

Backup keeper Kurt Pleier will likely get the start in the opening game. Pleier has not made a single start this season, but played well in the PSAC final in relief. He made four saves down the stretch to keep his team in the game.

Millersville has outscored its opponents 45-13 on the season.

Charleston will be the “away” team in the opening round game by way of earning the third seed in the region. The Golden Eagles posted a 17-3-0 overall record this season and claimed the WVIAC title Saturday with a 2-0 win over Davis & Elkins.

Two of Charleston’s three losses came against PSAC teams this season, a 3-2 loss at home against California (Pa.) and a 1-0 loss at Slippery Rock. Its third loss, a 1-0 defeat, came on the road at Marshall.

The Golden Eagles marched through the WVIAC with a perfect 10-0 record this season and will bring a No. 14 national ranking with them into this weekend.

Charleston is led by Dion Peters with 15 goals and four assists for 34 points. Darko Karamatic ranks second on the team in scoring with 11 goals and nine assists for 31 points. Pedrag Ivanovic ranks third with seven goals and seven assists and Rob Vincent rounds out the double-digit scorers with eight goals and one assist.

The Charleston defense has been outstanding this season, allowing a team total of just 10 goals.

Sean Teepen has been the primary keeper for the Golden Eagles, allowing nine goals in 1512 minutes between the posts for a goals against average of 0.54. He has made 64 saves for a save percentage of .877.

The Golden Eagles have outscored opponents 55-10 this season.

Game Two Preview (SRU vs. Mercyhurst, Friday at 5 p.m.)

Slippery Rock will be the home team in the second game of the day Friday after earning the top seed in the region. Despite beating the No. 1 team in the country last weekend, The Rock remains 12th in the latest national rankings released by the NSCAA.

Slippery Rock is guided by two-time PSAC-West Coach of the Year Matt Thompson, who earned his second consecutive coaching honor Tuesday when the league released its All-Conference teams.

The Rock posted a 17-3-1 record this season and needs one more win to set a school record for single season wins. Slippery Rock finished second in the PSAC-West regular season standings to Mercyhurst and claimed the PSAC Championship last weekend with a 2-1 win over Millersville.

The Rock is led by two-time PSAC-West Player of the Year Jeremy Deighton. Deighton led the PSAC in scoring this season with 17 goals and seven assists. He also led the league in game-winning goals with eight and was named the PSAC Championship game’s Most Valuable Player after scoring the opening goal and assisting the game-winner.

Freshman Benjamin Lloyd ranks second on the team in scoring with four goals and a team-high seven assists for 15 points. Lloyd earned All-PSAC honors as a midfielder this season. Kenneth Fultz ranks third in scoring with five goals and three assists for 13 points. Toby Bowser has scored two goals and matched Lloyd with seven assists and Iain Langstone has four goals and two assists to round out the double-digit scorers. Langstone also has three game-winners, including the winning tally in the PSAC title game.

The Rock defense has been solid all season, led by center back Thomas Pool and right back Patrick Conley. Pool and Conley each have three goals and one assist this season and each have helped anchor a defense that allowed just 15 goals in 21 games.

Greg Blum was named to All-PSAC honors as a keeper after starting in 20 games this season and posting a 16-3-1 record with eight individual shutouts. He allowed 15 goals in 1721 minutes for a goals against average of 0.78. Blum has made 79 saves for a save percentage of .840.

The Rock has outscored opponents 45-15 this season and has posted a 10-0 record at home. The last loss for Slippery Rock at home came to California (Pa.) in early November last season. The last loss on the turf at Thompson Stadium was a 2-1 loss to Lock Haven in September of 2008.

Mercyhurst will be the away team in the second game by way of earning the fourth seed in the region. The Lakers own a 14-5-1 overall record and won the PSAC-West regular season title before being eliminated in the conference semifinals.

The Rock and Mercyhurst played to a 1-1 draw in the PSAC semifinals before Slippery Rock advanced with a 6-5 win in penalty kicks.

The season record between these two teams stands at an even 1-1-1, with each team winning its regular season home game by a score of 2-1.

The Lakers are the only team competing at Slippery Rock this weekend without a current national ranking, but that won’t fool any of the other three teams. The Lakers have battled injury throughout the season and have proven they are one of the top teams in the country.

Mercyhurst packs a potent offensive attack led by Billy Colton, who scored 14 goals and added one assist in just 15 games this season. Nicholas Thompson ranks second on the team in scoring with 10 goals and seven assists.

Paul Neill has six goals and three assists, while Austin Solomon has scored five goals and assisted two others. Dean Atkins and Christoph Hampel have each scored four goals and added two assists to round out the double-digit scorers.

Mercyhurst is the only team in the tournament this weekend that has allowed 20 or more goals this season, outscoring opponents 47-21.

Freshman keeper Diego Gustin has been impressive in his collegiate debut, allowing 18 goals in 1565 minutes for a goals against average of 1.02. He has made 70 saves for a save percentage of .795.

Winners Move On

The winners of Friday’s games will advance to the round of 16 and will square off against each other Sunday at 2 p.m. A preview of Sunday’s game, including links for live coverage, will be posted at www.RockAthletics.com Saturday.