GREENSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team overcame a one-goal deficit in the final 14 minutes to claim a 4-3 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division victory at Seton Hill University Saturday, a game that saw four lead changes.
 
The Rock picked up their third straight win, improving to 5-3-3 overall and 2-1-2 in the PSAC West. With five games left in the regular season, Slippery Rock now controls its own PSAC Tournament destiny, surpassing SHU for third in the division with Saturday's win. The Griffins fell to 7-4-2 on the year, now 2-2-1 in PSAC West competition.
 
After a 1-1 halftime scoreline that included an eighth-minute goal from Will Harrigan, SRU took a 2-1 lead in the 46^th minute on a goal by Aitor Jorde. Two Seton Hill goals left The Rock trailing 3-2 in the 76^th minute, but another Jorde goal (78') and a game-winner from Arturo Pla Hernandis (80') secured the thrilling 4-3 victory for The Rock.
 
Ignacio Rullan put together a hat trick of assists to help The Rock's goalscoring efforts with the fourth assist of the game coming from Jorde.
 
Jorde led the team with four shots, two of which were on target. Harrigan and Pla Hernandis both took two shots, with Slippery Rock's dozen shots on the day being rounded out by one apiece from Aaron Finney, Rasmus Fugl, Jimmy Irani and Aashi Pandher.
 
Adam Davies made five saves in the winning effort, facing 14 Seton Hill shots.
 
The first shot from either side in the game ended up in the back of the net, with Harrigan heading in a corner from Rullan 7:53 into play to take a 1-0 lead.
 
The Griffins, who were stifled offensively for much of the first 30 minutes of the match, took advantage of a penalty kick opportunity in the 39^th minute to equalize. Julian Marker slotted his seventh goal of the year for SHU to reset the score at 1-1 for the half.
 
The second half began with one of the most improbable goals one could imagine in the sport of soccer. When Slippery Rock went to kick off, Jorde punted Rullan's touch downfield and over the Seton Hill goalkeeper's head, scoring from nearly 60 yards out to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Although stunned from Jorde's go-ahead goal, the Griffins fought back by netting another tying goal in the 67^th minute on a rebound and taking a 3-2 lead of their own on a loose ball play in the 76^th minute.
 
Jorde secured his first brace of the season by heading in another corner from Rullan in the 78^th minute, knotting the match up yet again at 3-3 and giving Rullan his third assist of the game.
 
After Jorde intercepted the ball in the middle of the field just 1:56 later, he found a hard-charging Pla Hernandis running into the penalty box. Pla Hernandis sent a scorcher into the net to snatch a 4-3 lead that held until the final whistle. Slippery Rock won two extra corners in the final 10 minutes and held the Griffins from taking another shot.
 
The Rock overcame a 14-12 Seton Hill advantage in shots but ended up taking six of the game's eight corner kicks. Both sides tallied eight shots on goal. SHU's Aiden Hollander made three saves in the match, while the Griffins' goals came from Marker, Tristan Wilson (67') and Tom Frank (76').
 
Slippery Rock will seek its fourth straight victory with a road test at Gannon University 6 p.m. Oct. 23. The Rock played the 15^th-ranked Golden Knights to a 1-1 draw at home Oct. 2.





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