BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team rallied to force overtime and a sixth round of penalty kicks but came up short in a 1-1 contest that No. 13 Bloomsburg University claimed a 5-4 shootout victory in Friday in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals.  
 
The loss puts an end to Slippery Rock's best season in nine years, a campaign that featured a 9-4-5 overall record – the best of head coach Kevin Wilhelm's career – as well as The Rock's first PSAC Tournament win since 2015.
 
The top-seeded Huskies of the PSAC East will host the PSAC Championship for the second time in three years 1 p.m. Sunday. The result moved Bloomsburg's overall record on the year to 14-3-2.
 
A 69^th-minute goal put Bloomsburg ahead momentarily but senior forward Aaron Finney scored his fourth goal of the year just 4:27 later to level the game at 1-1.
 
Slippery Rock had the upper hand through 20 minutes of overtime to force a shootout, going down 1-0 in the first round of PKs. A fifth-round save made by Adam Davies kept SRU in it, but Bloomsburg prevailed in the sixth round, 5-4.
 
Finney and Arturo Pla Hernandis led SRU with three shots each, with Finney putting all three on net and Pla Hernandis recording two shots on goal. Will Harrigan, Aitor Jorde and Shaun Spencer all tallied two shots with Ryan Hanes adding one shot himself.
 
Davies made one save in the 110 minutes of play, facing 13 shots from Bloomsburg.
 
Bloomsburg won the bulk of possession in the first half, outshooting The Rock, 6-3. The Huskies took five of the last seven shots, but SRU's defense stood tall to keep Bloomsburg off the board heading into halftime under a 0-0 scoreline.
 
Owen Hollobaugh netted Bloomsburg's opening goal in the 69^th minute by diving a header into an open net after Braden Alicea and Alex Wilsterman caused a scramble in the box with Davies initially making a save on a separate shot.
 
Finney drove a cross into the net from Luke Gildea in the 73^rd minute to tie the game up at 1-1. Gildea's pass was disrupted by a contested header between Rasmus Fugl and a Bloomsburg defender, allowing Finney to one-time the ball out of the air.
 
The two sides traded possessions for the last 17 minutes, heading into a Golden Goal overtime where the first team to score would have won the game automatically.
 
The first 10-minute overtime period was dominated by The Rock, who took all three shots. Pla Hernandis saw a shot from the top of the box go off the crossbar, falling to Spencer who was denied by a defender making a team save. Finney got the last chance of the frame for SRU but was turned aside by Bloomsburg goalkeeper Brady Rimple in the 98^th minute.
 
Both teams took one shot in the second period of overtime, but The Rock forced the 13^th-ranked team in the nation to secure the PSAC Tournament win in a penalty shootout.
 
Rimple saved Pla Hernandis' first shot, giving Bloomsburg an immediate advantage. The Huskies made their next four shots, but so did The Rock. Bloomsburg could have sealed it in five rounds, but Davies made a save on Anthony Schlee's potential game-winner. A sixth-round miss from Spencer was followed by a goal by Owen Peri, securing the win for BU.
 
Final shots were level at 13-13 with both sides taking six corner kicks. SRU earned a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal, forcing four saves from Rimple. Patrick Walsh was Bloomsburg's leading shot-taker with four, placing one look on net.
 
With Slippery Rock left out of the most recent NCAA Division II Regional Rankings, Friday's loss likely ends The Rock's postseason run. Coach Wilhelm will next turn his attention to the offseason, gearing up for an eighth year at the helm of the program in 2025.





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