SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Game times for this week's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference playoffs were announced Sunday by the conference office.
Women's competition begins Tuesday with quarterfinal action at four locations, while men's action opens Wednesday with a pair of semifinal games.
Women's schedule
The Rock is in the conference playoffs for the sixth consecutive season and will open postseason play with a 2 p.m. game at Mercyhurst.
SRU (13-5-1 overall) and Mercyhurst (10-4-4) finished the regular season tied for second place in the PSAC-Western Division. The Lakers earned the right to host Tuesday's game by beating The Rock by identical 2-1 scores in the teams' regular-season meetings (Sept. 17 in Erie, Oct. 21 in Slippery Rock).
Other quarterfinal matches include Indiana (Pa.) at PSAC-West champion Gannon, Kutztown at two-time defending league champion West Chester and East Stroudsburg at Bloomsburg.
In semifinal action Friday, The Rock-Mercyhurst winner plays the West Chester-Kutztown winner and the Gannon-Indiana winner takes on the Bloomsburg-East Stroudsburg winner.
The conference championship match is scheduled for Saturday.
If Gannon wins its quarterfinal game Tuesday, the semifinal and final games will be played on the Golden Knights' turf.
If Gannon loses Tuesday, the winner of The Rock-Mercyhurst game will host the semifinals and finals.
Game times for the semifinal and final games are not set.
The Rock has advanced to the conference semifinals in each of the last five seasons and has played in the conference championship game three of the last five seasons.
Men's Schedule
The Rock (13-5-1), the No. 2 finisher in the PSAC-West regular-season competition, travels to division champion (11-7-2) for a 1 p.m. semifinal game Wednesday. That will be the second meeting between the two rivals in the span of five days; the Vulcans wrestled the division title away from SRU with a 3-0 win last Saturday on James W. Egli Soccer Field.
In the Eastern Division, Millersville will play host to two-time defending league champion East Stroudsburg.
The winner of the Eastern Division showdown hosts the conference championship game Saturday (1 p.m.).
The Rock returns to the conference playoffs after a one-year hiatus. The Green and White earned back-to-back playoff berths in 2005 and 2006 and capped on the 2005 season with a PSAC championship.
The winners of the PSAC women's and men's playoffs earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
The Rock men are currently ranked third in the regional poll, which bodes well for its chances to receive one of the four berths that will be awarded to Atlantic Regional teams. The Rock made its only NCAA tournament appearance in 2005.
The Rock women are currently ranked seventh in the regional poll and need to finish among the top six to earn a third straight trip to the NCAA playoffs.
