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ERIE, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team advanced to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title game with a 1-0 win over West Chester University Saturday at Mercyhurst in the semifinals.
Slippery Rock will meet top-seeded Mercyhurst in the title game Sunday at noon after the Lakers scored in the final minute to defeat Millersville 3-2 in the opening game of the day.
The Rock improves to 11-3-6 overall with the win, while West Chester ends its season with an overall record of 8-8-2.
Saturday's win was the first for Slippery Rock in the semifinal round of the PSAC playoffs since 2009 when the team went on to win the sixth title in school history. The Rock is playing for the title for the third time in the last eight years after winning championships in 2005 and 2009.
Stephen Donnelly and
Clayton Master were the featured players in Saturday's win with Donnelly scored the only goal of the game with just 6:45 to play and Master recording his ninth shutout of the season with five saves.
West Chester finished the game with advantages of 16-12 in total shots and 5-3 in corner kicks. Slippery Rock posted a 6-5 edge in shots on goal.
Garrett Bleiler took the loss in goal for the Golden Rams, allowing one goal and recording five saves.
Neither team could find the net in the opening half as both teams traded momentum. West Chester opened the game with a possession advantage, while Slippery Rock closed the opening period with the edge. The two teams finished the period with an even number of shots at 7-7.
West Chester came out of the gates firing in the second half and was swinging momentum their way, but Master and The Rock defense withstood the challenge to keep the game scoreless.
Donnelly's game winner came at the 83:15 mark after the ball was deflected off the keeper and he hustled past to score into an open net.
West Chester could not gain any momentum down the stretch and did not get off another solid scoring chance as Slippery Rock hung on for the win.
Saturday's semifinal win sets up a meeting with Mercyhurst, with feels familiar to the seniors that were on the 2009 roster. Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst met three times in less than two weeks to end the season in 2009, with SRU eliminating the Lakers from both the PSAC and NCAA playoffs.
A complete game preview for Sunday's title game against Mercyhurst, including live coverage links, will be posted to www.RockAthletics.com Saturday evening.
