Boxscore
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. -- Junior forward
Jeremy Deighton (pictured above) scored on a header in the sixth minute of overtime Friday to give The Rock a 1-0 win over 14th-ranked East Stroudsburg in first-round action of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional tournament.
The win was SRU's first-ever in NCAA postseason competition and improved the Green and White's season record to 14-6-1.
With the win, The Rock earned a berth in Sunday's 2 p.m. second-round game against Millersville, a 3-0 winner over California (Pa.) in the other opening-round match Friday.
Sunday's game will pit the top two team seeded teams in the tournament against each other; Millersville (17-3) is the top seed in the region and SRU is the #2 seed.
SRU beat Millersville by a 2-1 score Sept. 27 on the Marauders' home turf, Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium, in the teams' only regular-season meeting.
The winner of Sunday's game will take on the Midwest Region champion in a national quarterfinal game Nov. 22 or 23.
Friday's goal was Deighton's team-high 16th of the season, which earned him a share of sixth place on SRU's single-season goals scored chart.
Sophomore midfielders
Toby Bowser and
Mitchell Walters were credited with assists on the goal.
Bowser picked up his school record-tying 15th assist of the season, while Walters chalked up his second assist of the season.
Bowser is the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference leader in handouts this fall and tied the school record set 50 seasons ago (1958) by John Kocur.
Rock sophomore goalie
Greg Blum recorded seven saves en route to his PSAC-best seventh shutout of the season.
East Stroudsburg (15-7) outshot The Rock by a 17-15 margin overall, but both teams fired seven shots on goal. Deighton had three of The Rock's shots on goal while Bowser had two and
Shane Kelley and
Anthony Paganie one each.
The fact that Deighton eventually scored the game-winning tally was only fitting since he had several outstanding scoring chances in the second half, including a earlier header he knocked off the post and a shot that sailed just wide of the goal. An unbiased observer of the game noted that Deighton also hit two shots that forced ESU goalkeeper Larry Pokrywa to make outstanding saves.
The Rock earned a berth in NCAA postseason competition for only the second time in school history. The maiden voyage in 2005 ended with a 1-0 first-round loss to New York Tech.
Friday's win, which snapped a modest two-game losing streak for SRU, gave this year's Green and White squad a share of the second highest win total in school history. The 1975 team also won 14 games (14-3 final record).
The school record for single-season wins is 17, set by Hall of Fame head coach Jim Egli's 1974 team (17-1-1 final record).
