SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team picked up its sixth win in seven games with a quartet of goalscorers in a 4-1 victory over California (Pa.) Saturday at James Egli Field.
 
The Rock improve to 8-4-3 overall and 5-2-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division with the statement win. The Vulcans fell to 4-8-4 on the year and 1-5-2 in the PSAC West. Slippery Rock's win moved The Rock into a tie with Seton Hill University for second in the PSAC West with those two sides set to meet at SRU Nov. 8.
 
SRU's goals came from Shaun Spencer (25'), Colton Spence (42'), Rasmus Fugl (66') and Arturo Pla Hernandis (83') with assists coming from Spence, Spencer, Aaron Finney and Kaden Reynolds, who earned his first point in just his third career appearance.
 
Pla Hernandis led The Rock with five shots, while Fugl placed two of his three shots on target. Ignacio Rullan recorded two shots with one shot coming from Finney, Reynolds, Spence, Spencer, Jimmy Irani and Aitor Jorde. Adam Davies made one save for SRU in net, facing five California shots.
 
SRU paced play in the opening 25 minutes, taking the game's first six shots and winning four of the match's first five corners. That series resulted in The Rock's opening goal that featured Spencer direct in a grounded cross into the box by Spence.
 
Both sides took two shots in the last 20 minutes of the first half with SRU's two scoring defenders swapping roles in the 42^nd minute – Spence got his turn to score, heading in a free kick from Spencer. The Rock entered halftime with a 2-0 lead for the first time since their 5-1 win over Shippensburg University Sept. 21.
 
The Rock found themselves back into the scoring column in the 66^th minute when Reynolds delivered a beautiful through-ball to Fugl, who converted a 1-on-1 chance against Cal's keeper to put SRU up 3-0.
 
California chipped into Slippery Rock's lead by knocking in a corner that went bar down over Davies' head in the 79^th minute. Cooper Robson headed in the shot with assists from Arik Landau and Cullin Woytovich to adjust the score to 3-1.
 
Slippery Rock responded 4:28 later with its final goal to take a 4-1 lead. Finney swung in a high-arching cross from the right sideline, a ball Pla Hernandis was able to settle and score with at the top of the box.
 
The Rock held Cal off the board through the final seven minutes to secure the three-goal win despite another promising header from the Vulcans that went off the crossbar in the 85^th minute.
 
SRU was able to utilize 19 different players in the win, maintaining leads in shots (16-5), shots on goal (7-2) and corner kicks (7-3). Jacob Gretz and Max Llado took two shots each for California, while Kiernan Webb made two saves in net for the Vulcans.
 
The Rock will next host Seton Hill Nov. 8, where they will need at least a tie to secure a spot in the PSAC Tournament. They can clinch a home playoff game with a win over SHU, as well. If SRU were to lose that game, it would need Cal to defeat or tie LHU Nov. 8 for a guaranteed spot in the conference postseason, which begins Nov. 11.





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