WINDBER, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team converted a pair of second-half corner kicks and withstood an eager Pitt-Johnstown offense to defeat the Mountain Cats 2-1 at Windber High School Wednesday.
 
The win lifts The Rock above .500 on the year to 4-3-3 and levels SRU off at 1-1-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division. The Mountain Cats fell to 3-7-1 overall and 0-3-1 within the PSAC West.
 
Shaun Spencer gave The Rock three points on one goal and one assist, scoring first in the 61^st minute and sending Rasmus Fugl what became the game-winning corner kick in the 79^th minute. Luke Gildea also got a touch to earn an assist on Fugl's late-game goal, while Ignacio Rullan recorded Spencer's assist.
 
Spencer also led the team in shot-taking, landing two of his three total attempts on net. Rullan put one of his three shots on target, while Fugl sent one of his two shots to goal. Gildea, Aaron Finney and Aashi Pandher rounded out SRU's 11 shots with one each.
 
Adam Davies generated his second highest saves total on the year with six stops through the 90-minute performance.
 
Slippery Rock found itself playing defense for much of the opening 45 minutes, facing eight UPJ shots while mustering just three itself. Davies made a trio of first-half saves on top of thanking the crossbar for a goalscoring denial in the 28^th minute.
 
The Rock responded to a scoreless first half by outshooting the Mountain Cats 8-5, taking a 1-0 lead when Spencer flicked in a Rullan corner at the near post 15:36 into the second half.
 
Pitt-Johnstown answered on a corner kick of its own, converting the set piece on the game's next shot. Anson Portzline equalized the match at 1-1 with assists coming from Toto Alexzander and Jack Moyer.
 
The sides traded possessions until SRU won its fourth corner kick chance of the game in the 79^th minute. Fugl netted his second goal of the season to give The Rock a 2-1 lead by knocking in a corner kick by Spencer that was settled by Gildea.
 
Slippery Rock stayed on the attack for the final 10 minutes, seeing two more corner kick chances while not allowing any shots from the Mountain Cats.
 
SRU's win came despite Pitt-Johnstown taking away leads in shots (13-11), shots on goal (7-5) and corner kicks (7-6). PJ Derksen made three saves in net for UPJ with Alexzander and Moyer leading the Pitt-Johnstown offense with two shots apiece.
 
Slippery Rock will remain on the road and travel to Seton Hill University 1 p.m. Saturday for a crucial PSAC West meeting.





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