Boxscore

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -- Junior forward Jeremy Deighton (pictured above) scored two goals and freshman forward Kenneth Fultz recorded two assists Wednesday afternoon to lead The Rock to a 3-1 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division win over hosting Lock Haven that greatly enhanced The Rock's bid for a conference playoff berth.

The win extended the Green and White's win streak to eight games and improved SRU's overall record to 13-4-1 and its PSAC-West mark to 4-3.

The win also moved The Rock into sole possession of first place in the division standings, but that may be a temporary situation.

Here's the situation:

At the start of play Wednesday, Lock Haven (10-6-3 overall, 3-3-2 PSAC-W) and Mercyhurst (9-4-2, 3-2-2) were tied for the division lead with 11 points under the PSAC points system that awards three points for a division-game win and one point for a division-game tie.

California (10-6-2, 3-3-1) was in third place in the division with 10 points, followed by The Rock with nine points and Gannon ((9-6-1, 2-4-1) in last place with seven points.

Wednesday's match was Lock Haven's final division match of the season.

Mercyhurst closes out its PSAC-West schedule with a 7 p.m. match Wednesday at Gannon; California and The Rock will each close out their division schedule with a 1 p.m. match Saturday on SRU's James W. Egli Soccer Field.

A Mercyhurst loss Wednesday night would assure The Rock of one of the division's two berths in next week's conference playoffs. A Mercyhurst win at Gannon would give the Lakers the division title and the winner of Saturday's SRU-California match would earn the division's No. 2 playoff berth.

A Mercyhurst win Wednesday and a tie Saturday between SRU and California would send the Vulcans to the playoffs by virtue of their win over The Rock in the teams' first meeting this fall.

In Wednesday's match, Deighton scored off an assist from sophomore midfielder Toby Bowser in the 20th minute to tie the score at 1-1. The assist was Bowser's conference-best 13th of the season.

Deighton scored his second goal of the game and 14th of the season in 75th minute of action off an assist from Fultz. That would prove to be the game-winning tally.

Freshman forward Patrick Conley added an insurance goal in the 85th minute off Fultz's second assist of the game and also his second assist of the season.

The Rock outshot Lock Haven by an 18-3 margin that included a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal. Rock sophomore goalie Greg Blum was called upon to record only one save.

Notes:

The Rock is ranked third in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional poll released Tuesday. If the Green and White can hold onto a top-four spot in the regional poll, they would earn only the second NCAA playoff berth in school history. The initial trip to the national playoffs came in 2005, when SRU won the PSAC title for the first time in 22 seasons ... With his goal Wednesday, Deighton moved to within one tally of earning a spot on The Rock's top 10 single-season goals scored list. His next goal would move into a tie with five other players for seventh place on the list ... Bowser, with his assist Wednesday, moved into a tie for second place on The Rock's single-season helpers list. He is tied with Dave Burrell (1969) and trails school record-holder John Kocur, who had 15 goals in 1958 ... This year's win total (14) is the highest recorded by a Rock squad since the 1976 team coached by NAIA Soccer and SRU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Jim Egli had a 13-4 mark. A win Saturday vs. California would match the 1975 team's win total of 14. The school record for wins is a 17-1-1 mark recorded by Egli's 1974 squad.