SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team will open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition 6 p.m. Wednesday on the road against California (Pa.). The game will be played at the Phillipsburg Soccer Facility.
 
The Rock enter Wednesday with a 1-2-3 overall record while the Vulcans come in at 2-4-1.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
• Fans can follow live stats for Wednesday's game via the links below provided by California Sports Information.

GAME 7 of 17
Opponent: California (Pa.)
Date: Wednesday — 6 p.m.
Venue: Phillipsburg Soccer Facility
Location: California, Pennsylvania
Live Stats: California (Pa.) Sports Information
In-game Updates: X (@Rock_Athletics)

SERIES HISTORY vs. CALIFORNIA (Pa.)
Wednesday will mark the 50^th all-time meeting between the two teams, a series that began in 1984. Slippery Rock holds the narrow advantage at 24-22-3. In their last 13 meetings, The Rock have gone 11-1-1, their lone loss coming on the road in 2021 in a 2-0 defeat.
 
On the road, Slippery Rock is 9-12-1 against the Vulcans, going 3-1-1 in the last five road tests. The Rock won the most recent trip to Cal, taking down the Vulcans in a 1-0 contest last year with a 68^th minute Shaun Spencer game-winner.

LAST MEETING
Slippery Rock hosted Cal Oct. 19, 2022, blanking the Vulcans in a 5-0 onslaught. Arturo Pla Hernandis scored the first goal in the 10^th minute, but Cal held the majority of the opportunities in the first half, ousting SRU in shots, 7-4. The tables turned for the second period, though, as The Rock piled on four more goals from Pla Hernandis, Spencer, Ramses Minaya and Alex Plimmer.
 
By the final whistle, Slippery Rock had taken the edge in total shots, 13-9, despite being held to just one corner kick. 

THE ROCK BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 1-2-3
Home Record: 1-1-1
Away Record: 0-1-2
Last Five Games: 1-2-2
Streak: T1
Head Coach: Kevin Wilhelm | Sixth season at SRU (26-42-11)

LAST TIME OUT
The Rock traveled to Roberts Wesleyan University last week in what became their third draw of the year, locking at 1-1. Aashi Pandher scored his second goal of the season in the 63^rd minute. In dramatic fashion, RWU's Nathan Ferguson would punch in a last-second shot with just 43 seconds left on the clock to steal the win from Slippery Rock and equalize the match. Roberts outshot The Rock 14-12, while SRU led in corner kicks, 5-3.

A WEEK OF OFFENSE
Slippery Rock posted a 5-2 win against Daemen University and a 1-1 draw at Roberts Wesleyan last week, with the scoring led by Pandher and Pla Hernandis, each with two goals in a week.
On the season, Pla Hernandis leads the team with eight points on four goals, while Pandher has five points on two goals and one assist.
 
Aitor Jorde has now posted four points on a pair of goals, while Ignacio Rullan has two points on two assists. Chris Mitchell and Max Murphy recently became the fifth and sixth different players with points in 2023, each with one assist.
 
Additionally on the attack, Pla Hernandis has now totaled 19 shots, most in the PSAC West. Jorde and Pandher have combined for 25 of The Rock's 69 total shots on the year, roughly 36 percent.

UNDEFEATED THROUGH THREE
SRU enters Wednesday's contest 1-0-2 in its last trio of outings, which began Sept. 16 with a 1-1 draw against Shippensburg University. The streak marks the first time that Slippery Rock has gone unbeaten through at least three games since Sept. 21, 2022, when it posted a 3-0-1 run.
 
In 2021, Slippery Rock kicked off the year 2-0-2, including a 1-1 draw with No. 25 Lake
Erie College. Prior to that, Slippery Rock had not gone on a four-game unbeaten streak since its 2015 PSAC Championship run.

A CAREER FIRST
Erie, Pennsylvania native Max Murphy earned his first career assist last week, sending a ball in to Pandher against Roberts Wesleyan. Murphy is the sixth different Rock player with points this year and the fourth with an assist.
 
The forward concluded his freshman season last year with two points on one goal, which was scored against Pitt-Johnstown in a 4-1 win. He also posted three shots, all of which were on target, while appearing in 15 games.

OPPORTUNITIES FROM THE END LINE
Slippery Rock was able to take five corners against Roberts Wesleyan, bringing the team's season total to 33. While Slippery Rock has allowed just slightly more in 35 corners, The Rock's 5.5 corner kicks per game is second most in the PSAC West, only behind Gannon University's 6.71.  
 
SRU's season-high in corner kicks came against Daemen last week, hitting double digits with 10. The Rock has taken as many or more corners than the opposition in each of their most recent three matches.

AASHI'S STELLAR WEEK
Pandher, a true freshman, had his first career start last week against Daemen, a game that featured both his first goal and his first assist. Then, against Roberts Wesleyan, Pandher played a full 90 minutes for the first time in his collegiate tenure, accounting for The Rock's lone goal, and ending the week with five points on two goals and one assist.
 
Pandher has now taken a dozen shots, third most on the team, with a team-high seven being placed on target.

SCALES TIPPED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Slippery Rock has taken more shots on goal than its competition in each of the last three matches. Against Shippensburg, The Rock held advantages over the Raiders in total shots (16-10) and in shots on goal (7-5).
 
Despite allowing seven shots on goal from the Wildcats, SRU put up 10 shots on net against Daemen.
 
In last week's matchup at Roberts Wesleyan, Slippery Rock was outshot 14-12, but held the slim lead in shots on goal, 3-2.
 
SHUTTING DOWN THE ATTACK
SRU's defense has continued to be led by Gabin Lonjard, who now also has two shots to his name. Lonjard, the lone defender to have not missed a minute of playing time this year, is often accompanied by the likes of Jeroen Van Der Veen and Will Harrigan. Joe Skillicorn, a midfielder, has been playing further back on the field aiding the transition from the back line up into the attack. Skillicorn joins Lonjard and goalkeeper Adam Davies as the only players to have not been subbed out.
 
DEFENDING THE GOAL
Davies faced a career-high 14 shots against Roberts Wesleyan, topping his previous high of 13 that he saw just days before versus Daemen. Davies is now up to 24 saves on the year and enters Wednesday's matchup with a save percentage of .706 and a 1.67 GAA.
 
ACTIVE SRU ROSTER vs. CALIFORNIA (Pa.)
Arturo Pla Hernandis – 7 points (3 goals, 1 assist)
Shaun Spencer – 4 points (2 goals, 0 assists)
Joe Skillicorn – 1 point (0 goals, 1 assist)
Adam Davies – 5 saves (1 start)

THE VULCANS BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 2-4-1 (.357)
Home Record: 1-1-1
Away Record: 1-3-0
Last Five Games: 2-3-0
Streak: W1
Head Coach: Emedin Sabic | 11^th season at California (Pa.) (52-88-16, .385)

CALIFORNIA (Pa.) SCOUTING REPORT
Cal enters Wednesday's PSAC West opener with a 2-4-1 overall record, following a weeklong break after its 5-1 win at D'Youville University. Prior to that victory, though, the Vulcans saw a three-game losing streak where they were cumulatively outscored 11-0 by Cedarville University, West Liberty University and West Virginia Wesleyan College.
 
Cal's lone home win this season came Sept. 6 against Malone University, in a 4-2 decision.
 
True freshman Andriy Bilous leads the Vulcans with six points on two goals and two assists, with both his goals coming against D'Youville. His 2.29 shots per game are ninth in the PSAC.
 
Junior Corey McKoy has aided with four points on one goal against Lock Haven University and two assists. Likewise, Tyler Sims has four points on the year from a goal and a pair of assists.
 
In total, nine different players have scored goals for Cal. Other than Bilous with two, each of the other eight have one goal on the year.
 
The goalkeeping role has been split between senior Payton Smith and sophomore AJ Visco. Smith has taken four games, while Visco has played three.
 
Smith has made 18 saves on 49 shots faced, giving him a 2.25 GAA and a .667 save percentage. Visco has allowed 10 goals on 42 shots faced, making eight stops in the process. He carries a 3.33 GAA and a .444 save percentage.
 
Cal takes the second fewest shots per game in the conference with just 8.14, allowing an average of 13.3 per match. The Vulcans have additionally been held to just 2.71 corner kicks per game, fewest in the PSAC.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Rock returns home 1 p.m. Saturday at James Egli Field to host Pitt-Johnstown. Last year, SRU went 1-0-1 against UPJ.


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