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ERIE, Pa. – The eighth-ranked Slippery Rock University men's soccer team rolled to its seventh consecutive win with a 3-0 shutout on the road at Gannon University Wednesday evening in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action.
The Rock, ranked No. 1 in the Atlantic Region this week by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, continued their impressive streak to improve to 10-1-1 overall and 5-1 in PSAC games. Slippery Rock is the only team in the region with only one loss at this point in the season.
Gannon dropped to 5-8 overall and 4-5 in PSAC games with the loss.
Slippery Rock wasted little time in establishing itself in the game Wednesday, scoring in just the third minute and firing the game's first five shots before Gannon could establish possession.
Zach Hall tallied his fourth goal of the year with a header just 2:25 into the game off a
Joshua Gray throw-in to make it 1-0.
The Rock added to the lead in the 29th minute when
Michael Ramirez scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season with a header off an assist from Gray to make it 2-0.
The 2-0 margin stood until the halftime break with Slippery Rock taking a 6-2 edge in shots into the intermission.
Gannon rallied and pushed the tempo in the second half, but could not break through with a goal and
Declan Brennan sealed the game with a dagger in the 71st minute, another header off an assist from Gray, to make it 3-0.
Gray finished the game with three assists to run his season total to a team-high nine.
Chris Zier was again outstanding in goal for The Rock, making six saves to record his fourth shutout and seventh straight win. In the process, he lowered his region-best goals against average to 0.54 and raised his region-high save percentage to .902.
Gannon keeper Jason Barbarino made three saves in the losing effort.
The Golden Knights managed a 10-9 advantage in total shots and a 3-1 edge in corner kicks. Both teams were credited with six shots on goal.
Slippery Rock, enjoying its highest national ranking ever, controls its own destiny as the playoff picture in the PSAC starts to take shape. The Rock currently sit third in the league in points, but have played two less games than both Mercyhurst and West Chester, the two teams currently at No. 1 and 2.
Slippery Rock will host those teams, as well as Millersville and East Stroudsburg before traveling to Shippensburg to close the regular season Nov. 2.
The battle for the regular season league title and hosting rights for the conference playoffs will truly begin to take shape when Mercyhurst visits Mihalik-Thompson Stadium Saturday night for a 7 p.m. Homecoming match.
Slippery Rock then hosts East Stroudsburg and West Chester Oct. 25-26 and closes the home portion of the regular season Oct. 30 against Millersville.