McKeesport, PA. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Soccer Team (4-2-1, 2-1-1) continues their march towards a Penn State University Athletic Conference Playoff spot on Thursday when they face Penn State Mont Alto (1-8-1, 0-4-1) at 3 p.m. Rainy weather that has moved through the area over the recent weeks has caused some of PSUGA’s games to be postponed, and Saturday will be their first time back out on the field in a week.
Their last game saw the offense shine in what was a 9-0 win over Westmoreland County Community College on October 4th. PSUGA got on the board just three minutes into the game when senior Belmo Nurkic (Pittsburgh, PA./Baldwin HS) found the net for his team leading seventh goal of the season. Nurkic would add three more assists on the day as six different PSUGA players contributed to the win with Yam Bista (Pittsburgh, PA./Baldwin HS) and Jagesh Subba (Pittsburgh, PA./Baldwin HS) leading the pack each scoring two goals.
Sophomore goalkeeper Colin Bucsok (Pittsburgh, PA./Thomas Jefferson HS) wasn’t tested much in the game, but did make two saves on two shots on net in 90 minutes played. With the win, Bucsok broke the record for career wins by a goalkeeper picking up the 13th win of his career in just his sophomore season breaking the record of former Lion Alex Wood who had 12 career wins in one and a half seasons.
With the slew of rainouts that have plagued PSUGA this season, they have stayed stagnant while other teams have moved ahead in the standings. PSUGA currently sits in fifth place in the PSUAC with a conference record of 2-1-1 merely for the fact that they have only played four conference games. With the makeup game Thursday, however, PSUGA will start a string of four games in six days where they will see three PSUAC opponents.
PSU-Mont Alto is riding high entering this matchup coming off their first win of the 2018-2019 season. They defeated Central Penn 3-0 on Tuesday courtesy of three second half goals. Sophomore Nate Hall scored one goal and one assist in the game and teammates Shounak Barat and Joel Wadel each added goals in the win.
PSUGA has seen success against PSU-Mont Alto in the past going 4-1 in the five previous matchups between these two teams. Last season, PSUGA picked up a 3-0 win over Mont Alto to kick-off conference play. Former Lion and current assistant coach Marin Marina had all three goals in that game and led the team with 10 shots, six of which fell on net.
Thursday is a big game for PSUGA as they try to secure themselves a spot in the PSUAC Playoffs. Their goal is to become either the #1 or #2 seed, get the first-round bye, and punch their ticket to the PSUAC Semifinals. Over the last five years it has been either the #1 or #2 seed that wins the whole tournament, so PSUGA has that in the back of their minds with the end of the regular season approaching quickly.
Thursday’s contest will be played at Breisinger Field in Pleasant Hills, PA. located right next to the Pleasant Hills Police Department building. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
