Box Score
Scranton, PA – Immaculata University got a goal in the 10th minute of Wednesday’s Colonial States Athletic Conference men’s soccer match-up with Marywood University and hung on to notch a 1-0 victory over the Pacers. With the win the Mighty Macs move into a tie for third place with Marywood in the conference as both sides now sport 5-2-1 CSAC records.
Immaculata drew three dangerous restarts early in the first half and were able to capitalize on the third just 9:42 into the game. Following a Marywood foul, Alan Lorentz drilled a free kick from 25 yards out that took a deflection off the Pacers’ wall and skipped past goalkeeper Jared El Gayeh to give the Mighty Mac the early lead.
Marywood had several opportunities to equalize in the opening 45 minutes of play, but the Mighty Macs defense and goalkeeper Stone Gahagan were able to keep the hosts of the board. A header by Joseph Gulli (Forked Rivers, NJ) in the 20th minute beat Gahagan but was headed off the line by an Immaculata defender. Pete Szerling (Radom, Poland) fired a shot in the 31st minute the Gahagan was able to tip over the bar to preserve the visitors lead at halftime.
The second half featured chances at both ends of the field though neither team was able to find the back of the net. El Gayeh (Baldwin, NY) made a fine diving save on a Joe Walker header in the 80th minute to keep the game within reach for Marywood.
Despite being reduced to nine men due to a pair of red cards, Marywood was able to generate a series of dangerous restarts. A header by Brett Megee (Easton, PA) following a long service by Ryan Jones (Holland, PA) with just over three minutes to play appeared goal-bound, but the ball was again cleared off the line by a Mighty Mac defender.
Immaculata, who now fashions an overall record of 7-6-4, held a 10-9 edge in shots for the game. Marywood, now 7-7-2 on the season, finished the afternoon with a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Gahagan made four saves for Immaculata to notch the shutout while El Gayeh, currently ranked 22nd in the country in save percentage, finished the game with two saves for the Pacers.
Marywood closes out their regular season on Saturday afternoon with a CSAC game at Neumann University. Kickoff between the Pacers and Knights is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. in Aston, PA.