WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Enjoying one of the finest seasons in school history, the No. 2-seed Lycoming College men's soccer team will look to continue a magical run when they host No. 3-seed Arcadia University in a Commonwealth Conference Tournament semifinal match on Thursday, Nov. 5, at the Shangraw Athletic Complex at 2 p.m.
 
Tickets for the game will be available at both the Mulberry Street and Packer Street gates for $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for students. Children under six are free. Long-sleeve championship T-shirts will be available for $15.


The Warriors are hosting a Commonwealth Conference Tournament game for the second straight year, which is only the second time in school history that the team has hosted a postseason game two years in a row, joining the 1994-95 squads.
 
In 2013, the Warriors hosted Lebanon Valley in an instant classic Commonwealth Conference Tournament first round game. The game, which started at 3 p.m., extended into double overtime locked in a scoreless draw when darkness fell over the Shangraw Athletic Complex. After an hour delay, the game was moved to the lighted-Balls Mills Soccer Complex, where the Warriors won with less than three minutes left in double overtime on a header by Connor McNiff. From there, the Warriors continued a magical ride that included beating Messiah and Elizabethtown on penalty kicks after 0-0 double overtime ties to win the program's first conference title.
 
A year later, the Warriors enjoyed arguably the best regular season in school history, posting a 14-2-3 record and a 6-2 mark in the Commonwealth Conference, with the only blemishes a 3-0 loss to the nation's top-ranked team, Messiah, and a 1-0 loss at Albright. After those two losses, though, the Warriors rebounded with five straight wins to close out the season, outscoring opponents, 12-1, during that stretch, helping the team rise up to fourth in the latest NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region rankings, behind only top-ranked Messiah, fifth-ranked Franklin & Marshall and 19^th-ranked Muhlenberg.
 
The Warriors are one of the top defensive teams in the country, entering the week fifth in Division III in goals against average (0.41), sixth in shutout percentage (0.68) and eighth in save percentage (0.882). Senior goalkeeper Connor Keenan (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) has been a major part of that, as the First Team All-Commonwealth Conference selection has notched a school-record 11 shutouts this year.
 
Sophomore defender Bill Kerr (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic) is another major reason the Warriors have allowed just eight goals this season. The center back was also a First Team All-Commonwealth Conference selection and should generate all-region buzz again after earning second team honors as a freshman.
 
The offense is led by sophomore midfielder Abdullahi Abdi (Seattle, Wash./James Garfield), the team's leading scorer with 16 points off six goals and four assists. Abdi, the Commonwealth Conference's Rookie of the Year, is one of seven freshmen that regularly contribute to the team's offense, as four of the team's top five goal-scorers are rookies.
 
The team's offense is stretched across the team, though, as 15 players have contributed goals this season and 16 have gotten into the scoring column. The team's bench is also exceptionally deep, as the Warriors will look to use as many as nine subs during the flow of a normal game.
 
Third-seeded Arcadia (9-6-2 overall, 4-3-1 Commonwealth) is led by the Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year, Rob Nydick, and a group of five all-conference selections. Freshman forward Bradley McKim leads the team, as the second-team all-conference pick leads the team in scoring with seven goals for 14 points.

In the first meeting between the two squads on Oct. 18, the Warriors scored twice in the second half and held on for a 2-0 win to establish a new school record for shutouts in a season, which now sits at 13. Freshmen Nathan Harding (Secretary, Md./North Dorcester) and  Jordan Logan (Oxford, Pa./Oxford Area) provided the offense for the Warriors.

The winner of Thursday's match will move on to the Commonwealth Conference Tournament Championship, where they will face the winner of the other semifinal between No. 4-seed Alvernia and No. 1-seed Messiah. The game will be played on Saturday, Nov. 8, at a site and time to be announced.