McKeesport, PA. – The #4 Penn State Greater Allegheny Men’s Soccer Team (7-4-2, 4-3-2) return to the playoffs for the fifth straight year in 2018-2019 with their eye on the programs first ever Penn State University Athletic Conference Championship. The first of two hurdles standing in their way is #5 Penn State York (4-5-2, 4-3-2) who they will face in the PSUAC Quarterfinal Round on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
PSUGA enters the contest coming off of a 2-1 loss in their regular season finale at the hands of Penn State Beaver. They fell behind early when Beaver’s Danylo Yakymov found the net to make it a 1-0 game. After a one hour and 26-minute lightning delay pushed back the start of the second half, Prajal Sharma (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin HS) scored the only goal of the game for PSUGA tying things up at 1-1.
After Beaver took back the lead in the 65th minute it started to get dark and the game was called in the 70th minute for player safety. Despite the loss, PSUGA held on to the fourth seed in the PSUAC playoffs and, as a result, get to host the first round of the PSUAC playoffs at beautiful Breisinger Field.
It is the fifth straight season that PSUGA has been in the PSUAC playoffs dating back to the 2014-2015 season, and it is the third straight year that PSUGA has hosted a PSUAC Playoff game in the first or second round. However, during that time PSUGA has not won a home playoff game in any of those three seasons. They lost to Penn State New Kensington in the Quarterfinal round at home two year ago and fell to Penn State Hazleton at home in last years Semifinal Round.
This seasons team will rely on veteran Belmo Nurkic (Pittburgh, Pa./Baldwin HS) to lead them through the tournament. Nurkic is the only remaining member of the team that got to the PSUAC Championship game as the #6 seed in 2015-2016 and he will be counted on to bring the fire and passion that is needed to make a run once again.
Penn State York enters Wednesday’s matchup with some momentum after a 4-2 win over Penn State Hazleton to finish off their regular season. Sophomore Carlos Robles-Flores scored three of his teams four goals in the win and teammate Cole Wentz added the fourth and final goal in the win.
These two teams finished in a deadlock earlier in the season as neither team got on the board in a 0-0 tie. Both teams had plenty of scoring chances throughout the night with both teams taking 12 shots, but spectacular defensive play by goalkeepers Colin Bucsok (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson HS) and Maksim Zingman kept both offenses from scoring. The all-time series between these two teams is also even with both teams having three wins a piece and a tie in the previous seven matchups.
Kickoff for Wednesday’s quarterfinal match is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Breisinger Field. Come on out and catch all the exciting soccer action at 410 E. Bruceton Rd. Pittsburgh, PA.
