Marauders Fall Short in Title Defense

Saturday, November 3

Erie, Pa.

11 AM

Millersville University

9-9-1

Mercyhurst

13-5-1

Millersville

MERCYHURST

Marauders Fall Short in Title Defense

11/3/2012 5:03:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Erie, Pa. – The Millersville men's soccer team was deadlocked with the Mercyhurst Lakers after 89 minutes of the PSAC Semifinal on Saturday afternoon. But in the final minute of the game, the Lakers' leading scorer Alex Manea found the back of the net and dealt the Marauders a 3-2 loss.

Senior Matt Kadoch scored a goal and added an assist for Millersville (9-9-1), while captain Andrew Dukes tallied the other score. Marauder goalkeeper Brad Benzing recorded six saves against the Lakers.

“In the first half Mercyhurst was able to take advantage of their chances, and we did not capitalize on ours,” commented head coach Steve Widdowson. "It was an evenly played game, and we definitely had our opportunities to win."

Mercyhurst (13-5-1) advances to its first PSAC Championship game. The Lakers were led by forward Alex Manea who notched each one of Mercyhurst's three goals. Manea, scoring his 14th goal of the season, increased his conference lead in goals to four. Mercyhurst goalie Diego Gustin gathered eight saves against the Marauders.

The Lakers were able to replicate the start that they had against the Marauders in an earlier meeting this season. In that game, leading scorer Manea was able to tally the game's first goal in the 24th minute. Saturday, Manea found the back of the net on his fourth shot in the 23rd minute.

In the previous meeting, Mercyhurst scored its second just seven minutes after their first goal. Saturday, the Lakers added an insurance goal eight minutes after their first score. It was the leaders of the Lakers who contributed to the second goal. Leading assist man Fernando Martinez found leading scorer Manea, who put the Lakers up 2-0 in the 31st minute.

The half ended with Mercyhurst up 2-0, but the Marauders were even with the Lakers with nine shots per team. The Marauders tarted to make a comeback in the second half.

Millersville got on the board in the 54th minute. The Marauders were awarded a penalty kick after a penalty in the Laker's box. Kadoch took the PK for Millersville and buried his shot into the back of the net to diminish Mercyhurst's lead to one.

Kadoch, Millersville's only senior, helped tie the game 20 minutes later. With the ball at Kadoch's feet, he took a strike on goal, but his shot was saved by Gustin. The rebound fell to Dukes, who scored to tie the game 2-2 in the 77th minute.

However, Manea could not be stopped. A mistake in Millersville's defense allowed Manea to score with only 49 seconds remaining in the game.

“We played fantastic in the second half and deserved to get back in the game,” said Widdowson. “We fought hard the entire game and just needed to finish one more of our opportunities.”

Widdowson has led his team to the conference tournament in all six seasons at the helm of the men's soccer program. The PSAC Semifinal loss marks only the second time in the last five years that Widdowson has not led his team to the conference championship game.

"It's difficult to end your season with a loss like this,” said Widdowson. “We will regroup and improve and get ready for next year.”

No. 1 Mercyhurst will now take on No. 6 Slippery Rock in the PSAC Championship Sunday, Nov. 4 at 12 p.m. in Erie, Pa. The Rock defeated No. 2 West Chester 1-0 in the other semifinal matchup.