New/Sortable Box Score ERIE, Pa. – Despite a valiant defensive effort and a goal by
Nathan Kortyna in the sixth minute, the Slippery Rock University men's soccer team fell on the road in double overtime to No. 12 Gannon University, 2-1.
With the loss, Slippery Rock falls to 4-4-1 overall and 1-1-0 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division. Gannon improves to 8-1-0 overall with a 1-1-0 record in conference play.
The Rock was led on offense by Kortyna, who scored his first collegiate goal in the sixth minute on a pass from
Brian McCarthy to give SRU an early 1-0 lead.
Abdallah Bangura,
Nick Sodini,
Hayden Seifert,
Mo Kanani and
Cory Olix each added a shot on goal.
The SRU offense came out firing, scoring in the sixth minute when Kortyna headed a pass from McCarthy off a corner kick to give Slippery Rock an early 1-0 advantage.
Both defenses would settle in following the score, with SRU defending the next four Gannon shots while the Golden Knights turned down two SRU attempts.
The Golden Knight offense broke through when Alex Lee Yaw sent a lined shot off the top post and into the goal from 20 yards out, evening the score at one apiece in the 36th minute.
The contest would become a defensive stalemate following the Yaw score, with Rock goalkeeper
Matt Hunsberger leading the charge. The senior keeper added key saves in the 11th and 46th minute to hold the 1-1 tie.
The Gannon defense matched the effort by SRU, defending a header from Kanani in the 74th minute that narrowly missed going over the outreached arms of GU keeper Chandler Hallwood, sending the contest to overtime.
A staunch defensive effort from both teams in the first overtime resulted in no shots being taken through the first extra period. Opening the second overtime, Bangura had a close shot saved by Hallwood followed by a lined Seifert shot just under a minute later that met the same fate.
Gannon secured the 2-1 double overtime victory when Yaw sent a crossed pass through The Rock defense to Ivan Manfredi who scored the game-winner in the 103rd minute.
Gannon and Slippery Rock tied for the lead in shots on goal (6-6) while the Golden Knights held advantages in total shots (11-8) and corner kicks (5-4).
Hunsberger turned in a solid performance for SRU in goal, recording four saves in 102:52 minutes played.
Slippery Rock returns to action when it hosts Shippensburg University for a non-conference matchup at James Egli Field 1 p.m. Saturday.
GAME NOTES
• The 2-1 overtime loss marks the fifth game this season decided by one goal or less for The Rock this season.
• SRU has now had three contests reach overtime through nine games this season, the most since 2012.
• Slippery Rock has scored a goal in seven-straight contests, the longest such streak for SRU since 2017.
HOW IT HAPPENED
GOAL: ROCK 1, GANNON 0;
Nathan Kortyna (
Brian McCarthy)
GOAL: GANNON 1, ROCK 1; Alex Lee Yaw (Unassisted)
GOAL: GANNON 2, ROCK 1; Ivan Manfredi (Alex Lee Yaw)
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