BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team played to a 1-1 tie at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon.
The game was stopped due to inclement weather with 3:24 remaining in the first overtime period. Saturday's result is the second tie for Slippery Rock (2-5-2, 1-2-2 PSAC) this season.
Kenton Keeslar came off the bench to score his first goal of the season to pace The Rock. Keeslar's goal came in the 87th minute to force overtime.
George Oakley assisted on the score.
Slippery Rock produced 19 shots on the day, the second most attempted by the team this season. The trio of Oakley,
Ethan Augustin and
Andre Morgan tied for a team-high three shots apiece. Keeslar,
Kyle Boyer,
Patrick Sullivan and
Mike Pcholinsky all had two shots as well.
Goalkeeper
Jonathan Sharp stopped a career-high seven shots.
Slippery Rock recorded the first shot on goal of the game, but Pcholinsky's attempt was stopped by Bloomsburg (1-7-2, 0-5-2 PSAC) goalkeeper Jacob Pesarcik in the ninth minute. The Rock proceeded to tally three more shots over the next seven minutes; Oakley had one blocked and another sail high while a header by
Jacob Thiel was saved.
The Huskies eventually countered and took a one-goal lead at 17:13 when Austin Transue beat Sharp one-on-one for the game's first goal. Anthony Cerda assisted on the goal.
SRU closed the half by successfully defending five Bloomsburg shots, but attempts from Pcholinsky and
Josh Allman were both off target as the Huskies took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Slippery Rock came out of the break with three shots and two corner kicks in the first six minutes of the second half, but Bloomsburg was able to maintain its lead as Morgan's shot went high, Boyer's bid was blocked and Augustin's header was saved.
The Rock did a great job of keeping their deficit to just one goal throughout the rest of the second half and finally broke through the Bloomsburg defense in the 87th minute when Keeslar put home a shot in the middle of the Huskie zone to tie the game at 1-1 with under four minutes left in regulation. Keeslar's goal capped off a hectic four-minute stretch that saw The Rock produce six shots and four corner kicks.
Bloomsburg's Brett Milden took the final shot of regulation, but his shot went high and the game headed to overtime. Both teams registered one shot in the opening overtime period, but each attempt was off the mark and the game was postponed, and eventually called, due to lightning at 96:36.
For the game, Slippery Rock held an 8-5 edge in corner kicks. Both teams posted 19 total shots while the Huskies edged SRU in shots on goal 8-6.
Slippery Rock returns home for the first of three consecutive games at Egli Field 4 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts No. 19 Gannon University.
