WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — With a two-week surge that included a 3-0-1 record and 10 points in the conference standings, the Lycoming College men's soccer team snagged the No. 6 seed in the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament, which they will open on Saturday, Nov. 1 on the road at Moravian University's John Makuvek Field at 4 p.m.
Tickets for the game cost $11 for adults (18+) and $6 for both minors (ages 10-17). Landmark Conference students, faculty and staff can enter free with their campus ID. Tickets must be purchased online through Hometown Ticketing. Cash will not be accepted at the door.
The winner of that matchup will move on to the semifinals to take on No. 2 seed Catholic University of America on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
The Warriors went 3-0-1 in the final four matches of the season, securing three straight shutouts, to play their way into the Landmark Conference Championship for the third year in a row. The season was capped off with a six-goal effort against Wilkes that was the team's highest-scoring effort in two years.
Meanwhile, the defense allowed just 0.88 goals per match during the season, the fourth-best in the conference. Sophomore keeper Jace Bennett (Falling Waters, W.Va. / Spring Mills) posted an .819 save percentage and seven shutouts on the year, including four straight clean sheets in early September and three more in a row to close the season.
Senior Christian Woobay (Gaithersburg, Md. / Quince Orchard) was once again the go-to scorer for the Warriors, leading the team and tying for second in the conference in goals (six), while also finishing second in total points (14) and third in the league in shots (43). Junior Leandro Cruz (Nottingham, Md. / Loyola Blakefield) tallied three goals on the year, all of them game-winners, tying him for the conference lead. Despite playing just 11 games, first year Xavier Dandridge scored three goals and added an assist, giving him seven points and 0.64 points per match, ninth-highest in the conference.
Moravian (9-5-4, 5-1-3) also possesses a stingy defense, allowing just 0.94 goals per match (fifth in the Landmark), though they've scored 1.67 goals per contest, third-most in the league. They are led by Enzo Petruzzelli, who tied for second in the conference with six goals, and Logan Moore, who is tied for fifth with five scores. Keeper Casey Prajzner has the third-most saves (76) in the conference and tallied the second-best save percentage (.835) in the league, posting six shutouts this season.
In the teams' regular-season meeting, Moravian won 2-1 in a hard-fought, evenly-matched battle, with senior Owen Magee (Selinsgrove, Pa. / Selinsgrove Area) scoring in the 26th minute for a 1-0 halftime lead. Moravian, though, evened the match on a Joey Roth goal just 48 seconds into the second half, then Evan Hubert scored the game-winner for the Greyhounds in the 77th minute.
NCAA soccer rules change for postseason play with the addition of overtime and penalty kick shootouts. If the teams are tied at the end of a regulation, 90-minute game, then the teams will play up to two 10-minute periods of golden goal overtime, with any goal ending the match. If neither team scores the overtime periods, the teams will advance to a shootout. Each team takes five shots, which must be taken by different players, and the team that makes more successful kicks is declared the victor. Shoot-outs finish as soon as one team posts an insurmountable lead. After five rounds, additional rounds are added until there is a winner.
