Video Replay  |  Interview with coach Hoggarth
 
ERIE, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team overcame an early deficit with two second-half goals to defeat No. 21 Millersville University, 2-1, and win the 2015 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship Sunday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Soccer Field in Erie, Pennsylvania.
 
The championship is Slippery Rock's eighth league title all-time and third since the 2009 season. The victory also extended SRU's winning streak to five games and improved its record to 14-6 overall. The 14 wins are tied for the fourth most victories in a single-season in program history.
 
Leading Slippery Rock to the championship win with a goal each was the duo of senior defender Ryan Lutke and senior forward Peter Boylan. Lutke scored first to tie the game midway through the second half and Boylan converted the game-winner in the 72nd minute. Lutke finished the game with a team-high three shots on goal. Boylan was awarded the PSAC Tournament MVP for his play throughout the event.
 
Junior goalkeeper Steven Rerick stopped five shots and helped coordinate another strong defensive effort that kept the second leading goal-scoring offense in check 88 minutes following an early Millersville goal.
 
Millersville jumped out to the early 1-0 lead under two minutes into the game when the Marauders placed a corner into the middle of The Rock's zone which allowed Chase Flickinger to find Tanner Brenize, who fired a shot inside the far post for the game's first goal at 1:14.
 
Slippery Rock had the edge in possession for much of the first half following the early goal, but was unable to turn any of its three corners or nine shots into the equalizer. Lutke recorded both of The Rock's shots on goal in the first half, first off of a header in the 10th minute and again with a low line drive in the 38th minute. However, Marauder goalkeeper Kohl Orner stopped both attempts to send Millersville into halftime leading 1-0.
 
Rerick made three saves overall in the opening 45 minutes, two of which were diving stops to keep the margin manageable through 45 minutes.
 
The opening 25 minutes of play in the second half were dominated by the defense until the 64th minute when Lutke sent in a free kick to The Rock's zone that deflected off of a Millersville defender and past Orner just inside the right post to tie the game up at 1-1 with 26:08 left to play.
 
Slippery Rock continued its pressure on Millersville over the following 10 minutes and at 71:01 SRU broke through once again when Boylan fired home his fifth goal of the season to give SRU a 2-1 advantage. Boylan took the ball into the MU zone, recovered his deflected shot and placed it into the Marauder net.
 
Millersville upped its offensive pressure over the remainder of the game, but Slippery Rock's defense rose to the occasion, successfully clearing six shots and three corners over the final 19 minutes of play to close out the championship victory.
 
SRU is now 4-1-2 in PSAC Tournament games played at Mercyhurst University all-time. The Rock's last league title also came on the turf in Erie, Pennsylvania in 2013.

Sunday's win was the latest in big postseason victories against Millersville. SRU also defeated the Marauders in the PSAC semifinals in 2013 and the championship game in 2009.
 
Slippery Rock will now wait to see if its resume is strong enough to earn a berth into the 2015 NCAA Tournament. SRU, which was ranked sixth in the most recent NCAA Atlantic Regional rankings, has won its league championship and owns a pair of wins over two teams that were ranked above The Rock in the regional rankings in Millersville and Notre Dame. The 2015 NCAA Tournament field will be unveiled 6 p.m. Monday evening.
 
SRU has made four trips to the NCAA Tournament all-time.