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NCAA DII Tournament - Atlantic Region #3 seed, plays at #2 West Chester Saturday
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Junior midfielder
Jo Panuccio scored off a free kick 4:35 in, and junior
Will Boerema made several key stops in goal in the second half to preserve a 1-0 victory for East Stroudsburg University over Gannon in the 2017 PSAC Men's Soccer Championship game on Sunday.
The Warriors (14-3-2) claim their first PSAC title since 2007 and their 20th overall in program history. That total is tied with Lock Haven for the most among PSAC schools.
Today's win, coupled with the women's soccer team's triumph over West Chester on Saturday, makes ESU the first PSAC school since Slippery Rock in 2005 to claim both soccer championships. Warriors head coach
Rob Berkowitz, meanwhile, becomes only the second coach in PSAC history to lead both the men's and women's teams to titles in the same year, joining former ESU coach
Jerry Sheska (1994).
Boerema was named tournament MVP after the contest, and he earned that award with five saves on Sunday, all of which came in the final 45 minutes.
The best chances for the Golden Knights (11-7-1) to score came at the beginning and end of the second half. Boerema left goal to deny a charging Baran Kilic in a one-on-one situation in the 49th minute. That set up a Gannon corner, and the No. 2 seeds hit the post and had another shot up close saved by Boerema in the ensuing scramble.
The last chance for the Golden Knights came with under two minutes to play. Boerema made a point blank stop on Gannon's George Stannard, and a follow-up effort by Mathias Krigbaum was sent high.
Those saves ensured that Panuccio's fifth minute opener stood up as the game-winner. Panuccio, who scored off a free kick to give ESU a key 4-3 double-overtime victory at Shippensburg back in September, delivered again from a similar spot on Sunday. After a Gannon foul on the left side of the field, he lofted a shot over goalie Jorge Hernandez which curled straight into the back of the net. The goal was the third of the season for Panuccio, who is in his first season with the program after transferring from Division I Rider.
The Warriors, who entered the six-team tournament as the No. 4 seed, complete their title run after knocking off No. 5 Mercyhurst by a 3-0 final on Tuesday and advancing 5-4 on PKs over No. 1 West Chester following a 0-0 draw in Friday's semifinal. They have relied on contributions throughout the entire roster all year, and that was particularly evident on Friday, as backup goalkeeper
Steven Robak came on for the shootout and made a pair of saves to secure a trip to the championship game.
Gannon ended with a slim 11-10 edge in shots after ESU had a 3-0 advantage through the opening 45 minutes. Boerema's shutout in goal was his seventh clean sheet in the past eight games. The Warrior defense, led by senior
Keelby Espinola, senior
Shaquille Stephenson, graduate student
Nico Gericke and sophomore
Mateo Laredo-Fernandez, has allowed only one goal over the past eight games, a stretch which spans nearly 800 minutes.
ESU claims an automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA DII tournament, with early round games set to take place next weekend. The tournament selection show is scheduled to take place on Monday at 6:30 p.m. The Warriors will make their 24th NCAA Tournament appearance, 20th in the DII Tournament, and their first since 2008.
Today's win is the first for the Warriors over Gannon since 2011, snapping a six-game losing streak in the series. The Golden Knights were looking for their first PSAC championship in men's soccer.
ESU is 8-0-1 dating back to its regular season 1-0 defeat at Gannon on Oct. 8, out-scoring opponents by a 21-2 margin during that stretch.
GAME NOTES
* ESU's 20 PSAC championships - 1969, 72-73, 76, 85, 89, 92-95, 97-03, 2006-07, 2017
* ESU improves to 20-6-1 in PSAC championship games
* ESU is 14-0-1 in last 15 PSAC championship games (tied 2010, fell on PK's) and 25-1-1 since 1992 in PSAC Tournament games.
* Warriors teams improve to 47-17 all-time in PSAC championship games (10-2 in last 6 years; 26-7 in last 25 years) - including ESU's women's title on Saturday (
Recap)
* ESU GK named PSAC Tournament MVP (since 1989)
1992 - Jason Petronis (2-0 vs. Lock Haven)
2007 -
Larry Pokrywa (1-0 2OT vs. Lock Haven)
2017 -
Will Boerema (1-0 vs. Gannon)
PSAC schools winning both championships
1994 - ESU
1997 - ESU
2005 - Slippery Rock
2017 - ESU