JOHNSTOWN, Pa – The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team tied Pitt-Johnstown, 2-2, Saturday on the road in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division match.
 
With the tie, The Rock's record moves to 4-7-2 overall and 2-4-1 in the conference while the Mountain Cats become 1-9-2 overall and 0-6-1 in the division.
 
SRU's offense was paced by Alex Plimmer and Shaun Spencer who each tallied one goal. Plimmers goal was the second of the year while Spencer netted his third of the season.
 
Aiding in the efforts were Luke Gildea and Patrick Phillips with one assist each.
 
Starting goalkeeper Hossam Aly made five saves over 87:41 while Adam Davies, in his second appearance of the year, finished the contest not having to face a shot over final 2:19 of regulation.
 
Slippery Rock got off to an accelerated start when Gildea sent a pass to Plimmer who netted SRU's first score just 8:15 into the first half to take an early one-goal lead.
 
The advantage did not last long as Pitt-Johnstown answered with a goal of its own 20 minutes later as Alexzander Toto converted on a Mountain Cat penalty kick, knotting the score 1-1.
 
The Rock and UPJ offenses continued the back-and-forth attack, with each team taking three additional shots through the remainder of the opening half, but neither side was able to establish a lead sending the game into halftime still tied 1-1.
 
Coming out of the break, Slippery Rock started the action taking five shots, two of which were on goal, in the first 12 minutes, but to no avail. UPJ went on to claim its first lead of the match when Josh Sollars scored on a Toto cross pass at 63:32.
 
A defensive battle ensued for the next 20 minutes as The Rock was held to only three shots, two on goal, while UPJ took just one off-target attempt.
 
In SRU's first solid offensive push of the second half, Spencer received a pass from Phillips that he was able to land past Mountain Cat goalkeeper PJ Derksen to tie the score 2-2 at 86:16.
 
Both defenses settled in once more for the final four minutes of the match as neither team was able to register a shot before the final buzzer, preserving the 2-2 tie.
 
For the game, Slippery Rock held advantages over Pitt-Johnstown in total shots (16-12), shots on goal (9-7) and corners (9-1).
 
Slippery Rock returns home for a PSAC West match against California (Pa.) 1 p.m. Oct. 19 at James Egli Field. Earlier this season The Rock claimed a 1-0 win over the Vulcans at James Egli Field.







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