GAME PROGRAM INFO
Slippery Rock has moved away from printed game programs for all sports in 2024-25. This page will serve as the "Digital Game Program" for this week's game. To navigate to all gameday info for any SRU home events this year, simply visit rockathletics.com/gameday or scan the QR code on the "Gameday Info" posters hanging in each facility.
 

Slippery Rock vs. California (Pa.)
The Rock (7-4-3, 4-2-2 PSAC West)	Vulcans (4-7-4, 1-5-2 PSAC West)
Roster	Roster
Schedule	Schedule
Statistics	Statistics
Coach Kevin Wilhelm	Coach Emedin Sabic
Program Records	Program Records
James Egli Field
PSAC Standings
PSAC Statistics
PSAC Schedule

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team will play for its sixth win in seven games 12 p.m. Saturday at James Egli Field as it hosts California (Pa.) in the team's penultimate match of the regular season.
 
The Rock enter with a 7-4-3 record that contains a 4-2-2 mark in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division play. The Vulcans, playing their last away game of 2024, come with a 4-7-4 overall record and a 1-5-2 resume in PSAC West play.
 
WATCH ON YOUR TV - "ROCK ATHLETICS DIGITAL NETWORK" APPS
• Fans can watch Saturday's game live and on-demand for free on the Rock Athletics Digital Network, created and operated by the SRU athletic communication office.
 
• Search for Rock Athletics Digital Network in the app stores on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku and Android TV devices. The streaming web player linked above will also integrate with Chrome Cast devices to allow viewers to cast the game to those devices.
 
NO PETS AT JAMES EGLI FIELD
Fans are reminded that there are NO PETS allowed at James Egli Field or in any SRU Athletics facilities. Please do not bring dogs or any other pets to the game. Unless they are a registered service animal, you will be asked to remove your pet from the facility.
 
GAME 15 of 16
Opponent: California (Pa.)
Date: Saturday – 12 p.m.
Location: Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania  
Venue: James Egli Field
Live Video: Rock Athletics Digital Network
Live Stats: Slippery Rock Athletic Communication
In-game Updates: X (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: 25-23-4
Current Streak: D1
Last Played: Oct. 5, 2024 at Cal (Tied, 2-2)
 
TOP ACTIVE SRU CAREER STATS vs. CALIFORNIA (Pa.)
Arturo Pla Hernandis – 9 points on 4 goals ,1 assist, 16 shots, 9 SOG (7 GP)
Shaun Spencer – 5 points on 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 shots, 2 SOG (5 GP)
Aitor Jorde – 4 points on 1 goal, 2 assists, 5 shots, 2 SOG (3 GP)
Luke Gildea – 2 points on 1 goal, 8 shots, 5 SOG (6 GP)
Adam Davies – (2-1-1), 1.00 GAA, 7 saves on 29 SF, 2 SHO (4 GP)
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Rock and the Vulcans will be meeting for the 53^rd time in a series that dates back to 1984. Slippery Rock holds a slim 25-23-4 overall record, going 3-1-1 in its last five contests with California.
 
The Rock are 16-10-2 when hosting the Vulcans, not having lost a home match to Cal since 2012. SRU enters Saturday on an eight-game home winning streak against Cal, outscoring the Vulcans 21-2 in that span.
 
The two sides played to a 2-2 draw at California Oct. 5, with the Vulcans answering a go-ahead goal from SRU in each half. Rasmus Fugl (4') and Colton Spence (51') netted the goals for The Rock with California equalizing in the sixth and 58^th minutes of play. Aashi Pandher picked up an assist for Slippery Rock in the draw.
 

TEAM COMPARISON
The Rock	Stats	Cal (Pa.)
7-4-3	Overall Record	4-7-4
4-2-2	PSAC West Record	1-5-2
1.7	Goals per Game	0.7
1.5	Opp. Goals per Game	1.7
+3	Season Goal Differential	-14
12.9	Shots per Game	7.5
9.8	Opp. Shots per Game	11.2
5.4	SOG per Game	3.1
4.8	Opp. SOG per Game	5.3
1.6	Assists per Game	0.7
6.1	Corners per Game	3.9
11.1	Fouls per Game	12.5
3.3	Saves per Game	3.7

 
THE ROCK BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 7-4-3
PSAC West Record: 4-2-2
Home Record: 2-2-2
Away Record: 5-2-1
PSAC West Rank: T-3^rd of 6
Streak: W2
Last Five: 4-1
Head Coach: Kevin Wilhelm | Seventh season at SRU (37-52-15)
 
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock rallied from two goals down to come back and defeat Lock Haven University on the road, 3-2. The Bald Eagles went up 2-0 in the first 25 minutes but fell down a man with a red card in the process.
 
Aitor Jorde cut into Lock Haven's lead with a 31^st-minute goal before Arturo Pla Hernandis logged a brace with goals coming in the 67^th and 76^th minutes.
 
Slippery Rock outshot Lock Haven 17-4 in an effort led by Jorde and Pla Hernandis, who each had five shots. Fugl, Jorde, Jimmy Irani and Gabin Lonjard all recorded an assist for Slippery Rock.
 
LEADING THE ROCK
Jorde and Pla Hernandis are both team leaders with 12 points, although those dozen points have been racked up in different ways. Jorde has recorded four goals and four assists for his 12 points, while Pla Hernandis serves as Slippery Rock's leading goalscorer with six.
 
Fugl has tallied seven points on three goals and one assist, while Aaron Finney and Colton Swanson have each brought six points to the team's total. Swanson scored twice and assisted twice in the first four games of the year, and Finney has notched three goals on the year.
 
Gildea's steady presence in the midfield has translated to five points on two goals and one assist, while Shaun Spencer has registered four points on a goal and two assists. Ignacio Rullan's five points have all come from five assists, just as Jack Smith's three points have stemmed from three assists.
 
Spence, Jacob Glancy and Will Harrigan have each scored once for two points. Irani, Lonjard, Pandher and Ryan Hanes round out the 16 different players with points with one assist apiece.
 
Jorde leads Slippery Rock with 34 shots, 11 of which have fallen on target. More than half of Pla Hernandis' shots have gone to goal, ranking eighth in the PSAC with a .516 shot accuracy and stacking up 10^th in the conference with 1.1 shots on goal per game. Pla Hernandis has tallied a team-high 16 shots on goal out of his 31 total attempts.
 
MORE LATE-GAME DRAMA
Slippery Rock's last five victories have all been results of goals tallied in the final 14 minutes of play. Pla Hernandis' thrilling game-winner at Lock Haven added to that list this week:
 
Recent SRU game-winners (time of goal)
Finney vs. Shepherd (84') – Final: 2-1
Fugl at Pitt-Johnstown (79') – Final: 2-1
Pla Hernandis at Seton Hill (80') – Final: 4-3
Fugl vs. Pitt-Johnstown (78') – Final: 2-0
Pla Hernandis at Lock Haven (76') – Final: 3-2
 
Both Fugl and Pla Hernandis are tied for third in the PSAC West with two game-winning goals on the season.
 
WHERE THEY STAND
With two games left to play in the regular season, Slippery Rock is tied with Seton Hill University for third, which is the final playoff spot in qualification for the PSAC Tournament. Both teams have 14 points from 4-2-2 PSAC West records.
 
Slippery Rock cannot clinch a berth in the PSAC Tournament Saturday, as The Rock and the Griffins will meet at James Egli Field Nov. 8 for the regular season finale. Seton Hill will host Pitt-Johnstown 1 p.m. Saturday.
 
Even if SHU wins that game and The Rock fall to Cal, a win over Seton Hill next week would put SRU in the playoffs as it holds the head-to-head tiebreaker. If both teams pick up wins in their respective matches Saturday, Slippery Rock will only need a draw or a win against Seton Hill next week to qualify for the PSAC Tournament.
 
SRU will also keep an eye on the result of Saturday's matchup between Lock Haven and Gannon, who sit in the top two spots in the table as of now. Gannon has 18 points and is in a very comfortable playoff position, while Lock Haven is just one point ahead of SHU and SRU with 15.
 
DEFENSE GETTING IT DONE
Slippery Rock's defense, which was comprised of Harrigan, Lonjard, Smith, Spence and Ethan Boland – who made his fourth career appearance with The Rock – limited Lock Haven to just four total shots in the 90-minute affair, a season-best for Slippery Rock defensively.
 
SRU last held a team to four shots when it outshot Seton Hill 18-4 in a 3-1 win Oct. 14, 2023, a span of 19 games.
 
The Rock also limited Lock Haven to just two shots on goal, marking the fourth time this season that Slippery Rock's opponent has mustered fewer than three shots on target in a game.
 
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Adam Davies comes into Saturday's matchup with a 2-1-1 career record against California, bringing a 1.50 GAA and a .687 save percentage on the season. Having played all 1,260 minutes in net this year, Davies ranks sixth in the PSAC with 3.3 saves per game.
 
JIMMY'S GOT A POINT
Irani picked up his first career point this week by adding an assist to Slippery Rock's game-winning goal at Lock Haven. The true freshman midfielder from Grove City, Pennsylvania has now played in 13 of SRU's matches this year, making two starts. He enters the weekend having taken one shot in four of the last six games.
 
Lonjard also got his first assist of the season at Lock Haven, his second career assist.
 
THAT'S 16 PLAYERS NOW ON THE BOARD
Slippery Rock is up to 70 points on 24 goals and 22 assists this season, a total that has been spread between 16 unique players.
 
The last time Slippery Rock had at least 16 different players with a point was in 2016 when 17 players combined for 48 points. The Rock have scored 22 more points this year in two fewer games than The Rock had in 2016.
 
A DYNAMIC DUO UP FRONT
24 of Slippery Rock's 70 points (34.3 percent) and 65 of The Rock's 181 shots (35.9 percent) have come from Jorde and Pla Hernandis. The two have also recorded 10 of SRU's 24 goals this year, accounting for 41.7 percent of SRU's scoring.
 
Pla Hernandis, a senior from Beniparrell, Spain, has scored five goals in the last six matches, while Jorde, a junior from Bilbao, Spain, has logged 10 points on three goals and three assists through the last five games.
 
THEY JUST KEEP WINNING
Slippery Rock has guaranteed itself a winning season for the first time in nine years, dating to an 11-6 regular season in 2015. The Rock come into Saturday's fixture at 7-4-3 with two games remaining.
 
Regardless of what happens from here on out, the 2024 SRU men's soccer season will mark the highest winning percentage of head coach Kevin Wilhelm's career.
 
Slippery Rock's most recent winning season in 2015 concluded by hoisting the PSAC Tournament trophy, defeating No. 21 Millersville University in the conference's championship game.
 
SETTLING IN AT HOME
SRU will play its final two games at home, having put together a 2-1-2 record at James Egli Field so far this season.
 
Slippery Rock has not played a home match at James Egli Field in the month of November since Nov. 3, 2021, when The Rock cruised to a 4-1 victory over Pitt-Johnstown.
 
RECORD WATCH
Now in his senior year, Pla Hernandis continues to rise through the ranks in several different school records. The true nine ranks inside the top five all-time with 156 total shots and third with 76 shots on goal. Jorde jumped up into a tie for 12^th all-time, now with 34 shots on goal.
 
Pla Hernandis' brace at Lock Haven also moved him into a tie for 13^th with Blair Gerlach (1997-99) for 13^th in school history. He is three goals outside the top 10.
 
In net, Davies is now tied for 13^th with 13 career wins, ranks second with seven career ties and has taken sole possession of eighth with 33 goalie starts.
 
THE VULCANS BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 4-7-4
PSAC West Record: 1-5-2
Home Record: 2-2-4
Away Record: 2-5
PSAC West Rank: 5^th of 6
Streak: W1
Last Five: 2-3
Head Coach: Emedin Sabic | 11^th season at Cal (58-104-20, .374)
 
CALIFORNIA SCOUTING REPORT
The Vulcans are mathematically eliminated from PSAC Tournament contention but are also coming off their first league win this year, a 2-1 road win at Pitt-Johnstown. Cal went down 1-0 in the 15^th minute to the Mountain Cats but used a brace from Cullin Woytovich in the next 11 minutes (17', 26') to take a 2-1 lead that held through the rest of the game.
 
Cal's two PSAC West ties this season have come to Slippery Rock (2-2) and Pitt-Johnstown (1-1). Prior to the Vulcans' win over UPJ this week, California had lost three straight games – twice to nationally ranked Gannon University and once to Seton Hill – being outscored 13-0 in that span.
 
Joining Woytovich with a team-high six points from two goals and two assists is Brady Olsen, who claimed one of the two goals against Slippery Rock earlier this season. Sophomore Kiernan Webb (4-4-4) has been Cal's go-to goalie this year, coming into the weekend with a 1.39 GAA and a .719 save percentage.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Slippery Rock will get a few extra days of rest before playing its highly anticipated final match of the regular season 2 p.m. Nov. 8 against Seton Hill at James Egli Field.





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