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ERIE, Pa. – The 24th ranked Slippery Rock University men's soccer team advanced to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship game for the second consecutive year with a 4-3 edge in a penalty kick shootout after The Rock and Millersville played to a 0-0 tie in the semifinals Friday at Mercyhurst.

Both teams had great chances to score throughout regulation and overtime, but neither could break through, sending the game to the penalty kick shootout.

Joe Agerskow made a kick save on the second Millersville shot and every shooter for Slippery Rock after that converted their attempt, including Ryan Lutke, who slipped the clinching goal in off the hands of a diving Brad Benzing to give SRU the 4-3 win in the shootout.

The game will officially be recorded as a 0-0 tie via the NCAA rules, but Slippery Rock earns the right to play for the league title Saturday at 1 p.m. against No. 13 Mercyhurst. The championship game will be a rematch of the 2012 title game after Mercyhurst defeated West Chester 3-0 in the other semifinal Friday.

The tie moves Slippery Rock to 12-3-3 overall on the year. Millersville moves to 12-5-2 overall and will await the NCAA Tournament selection announcement Monday night to see if its season will continue.

Friday's semifinal was a stark contrast from the offensive showcase that was on display in the thrilling 4-3 win Slippery Rock recorded over Millersville the last time the teams met, Oct. 30.

The game was an even match in every sense of the word. Slippery Rock controlled the first half with a 9-3 edge in shots, Millersville made big pushes in the second half (9-5 advantage in shots) and overtime (5-3 advantage in shots), but the teams finished with identical statistics.

Both teams finished with 17 total shots, five shots on goal, five corner kicks and five saves. The teams even got the same number of goalkeeper saves in the shootout, as Benzing saved Michael Ramirez's first attempt. The difference was the fourth shooter for Millersville, Austin Hoke, whose shot hit the post and bounced out. Joshua Gray converted the next attempt to put SRU up 3-2 and Lutke finished it with the final shot.

Stephen Donnelly, Dom Francis, Gray and Lutke all converted penalty kick attempts for Slippery Rock.

Agerskow was outstanding between the posts for The Rock, making a diving save in the second half to keep it scoreless and recording two saves in overtime to preserve the shutout. He finished with five saves and one stop in the shootout to move to 4-0-2 on the year with a 0.54 goals against average and an .897 save percentage.

Benzing finished with five saves and one stop in the shootout for Millersville.

Slippery Rock will have precious little time to rest before the PSAC title game. The game ended just before 5 p.m., leaving less than 24 hours to rest and prepare for Mercyhurst, whose semifinal game ended before 1 p.m.

The PSAC title game will be the second meeting of the season between Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst. The Lakers earned a 2-1 win in the regular season meeting at SRU Oct. 19.

Mercyhurst will provide live statistics and live subscription based video feed for Saturday's championship game, which is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Admission is $7 for adults, $2 for students and free for all Slippery Rock students with ID.

Live updates from the game will also be posted on the Slippery Rock Twitter feed at twitter.com/Rock_Athletics.

Mercyhurst is looking to repeat as PSAC champion after a 1-0 win over SRU last fall, while Slippery Rock seeks its seventh PSAC title and first since 2009.