Men’s soccer advances to tournament championships, women fall short

Timothy Corso, Staff Writer

The Gannon University men’s and women’s soccer teams competed in the semifinals of their respective Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament Friday.

The women’s team kicked off first in a matchup with Millersville at Bloomsburg, and the Knights fell 1-0 in a closely fought battle. But the 19th-ranked men prevailed in their semifinal battle, edging Lock Haven, 1-0, to earn a berth in Sunday’s 1 p.m. tournament championship game against Millersville at Mercyhurst.

In the women’s game, the lone score came with 3:32 left in the first half on a corner kick when Millersville junior Morgan Winchock headed in a ball into the net to give the Marauders the lead. Winchock was assisted by sophomore Palina Morgan.

Gannon, which dropped to 12-3-3 overall on the season, kept firing until the end, though.

Shot attempts from Alexa Dix, Taylor Lewis and Megan McCartney were the last surge that the Knights gave but they couldn’t find the back of the Net.

Gannon’s season could continue with an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Bids will be awarded next week.

The men’s team, on the other hand, will see their PSAC Tournament run continue after defeating the No. 1 seed from the PSAC East.

The Knights got the lone score in the match 54 seconds in when Peter Wagner set up Sergio Del Castillo for a header for the Gannon goal.

Gannon, which improved to 16-2-2 overall, played smothering defense the whole game.

Max Rocco had a just three saves in the winning effort as the Gannon defense didn’t allow many shots on goal.

TIMOTHY CORSO

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