The 21st- ranked Gannon University men’s soccer team opened Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play Saturday with a decisive 2-1 victory on the road against California University of Pennsylvania.

The Knights came out aggressive as they took five shots in the first 20 minutes of the contest.

Gannon’s persistence paid off in the 33rd minute when redshirt junior Sergio Del Castillo netted his second goal of the season. Redshirt sophomore Tinashe Katsande assisted Del Castillo on the goal.

Just six minutes later, freshman Bautista Corti set up Del Castillo for his second goal of the match and gave the Knights a commanding 2-0 lead.

Gannon dominated the first half as the Vulcans didn’t get off their first shot of the match until a couple minutes after the Knights’ second goal.

Gannon outshot California 10-1 in the first half and had three corner kicks to the Vulcans’ one.

Both teams came out in attack mode to start the second half, as each team attempted a shot and corner kick within the first 10 minutes.

The Vulcans weren’t ready to throw in the towel as they scored their first goal in the 63rd minute courtesy of senior Negus Johnson, who was assisted by freshman Chris Garcia.

The Knights bent but didn’t break, letting the Vulcans get just one shot on goal after they scored their lone goal of the contest.

After the final whistle blew, Gannon improved to 7-1 and 1-0 in PSAC play.

The Knights outshot the Vulcans 13-6 in the contest and held the edge on corner kicks 6-5.

The Knights will continue their conference play as they travel to Slippery Rock for a midweek match at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, then later welcome Pitt-Johnstown to McConnell Family Stadium for an early evening match at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Gannon women’s soccer team traveled to Clarion Saturday and rolled over the Eagles 4-1, extending their win streak to three.

The Knight women fell behind early when Clarion sophomore Kylee Cross was assisted by senior Alexis Moyer in the 10th minute to put the Eagles up 1-0.

Gannon halted the Clarion momentum with an aggressive attack that ended with a goal in the 29th minute by redshirt senior Taylor Lewis. Lewis was assisted by sophomore Logan Nicklas.

The Knights were relentless in their attack down the stretch of the first half. Gabby Boden and Emilie Hilliard each took shots near the half’s end, but both shots were off, and the game remained tied at 1-1.

The Knights outshot Clarion 11-6 in the first half and obtained the edge in corner kicks, 3-0.

Gannon started the second half strong, getting off multiple shots early.

Those shots resulted in Lewis scoring her second goal of the match and put the Knights up 2-1.

Gannon and Clarion went back and forth taking shot after shot for over 25 minutes without a goal.

Following a Clarion foul, redshirt senior Kayla Bevacqua made the most of the chance the Knights got and extended the Gannon lead to 3-1.

Six minutes later, the Knights took advantage of another Clarion penalty and redshirt senior Megan McCartney pushed the Gannon lead to 4-1 on a penalty kick.

For the match, Gannon outshot Clarion 20-8 and held the edge on corner kicks, 5-0.

The Knight women will next travel to Slippery Rock for a match at 1 p.m. Wednesday before welcoming Pitt-Johnstown to McConnell Family Stadium for a weekend match at 5 p.m. Saturday.

TIMOTHY CORSO

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