WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A thrilling 4-2 victory at Moravian on Saturday, Nov. 1 propelled the Lycoming Warriors into the semifinals of the Landmark Conference tournament, where they will travel to the nation's capital for a matchup with No. 2 seed Catholic University of America on Wednesday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m.
Tickets for the game cost $11 for adults (18+) and $6 for both minors (ages 10-17) and seniors. 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 conference finals to take on the winner of No. 5-seed Drew University and No. 1-seed University of Scranton, a match that will take place on Saturday, Nov. 8. The Warriors are looking to reach the conference finals for the third time in four seasons.
The Warriors earned their fifth straight result (and fourth win in that span) in their matchup at Moravian last weekend, with first-year Leandro Cruz (Nottingham, Md. / Loyola Blakefield) and sophomore Xavier Dandridge (Baltimore, Md. / Archbishop Curley) each scoring in the first half. After Moravian tied the game, junior Aidan Stillman (Silver Spring, Md. / Albert Einstein) broke a 2-2 tie in the 85th minute with a goal, then Cruz added a second tally barely a minute later.
Senior Christian Woobay (Gaithersburg, Md. / Quince Orchard) leads the team and is tied for second in the conference in goals (six), while also finishing second in total points (15) and third in points per game (0.83). Junior Leandro Cruz (Nottingham, Md. / Loyola Blakefield) tallied five goals on the year, three of them game-winners to tie him for the conference lead. Despite playing just 12 games, first year Xavier Dandridge scored four goals and added an assist, giving him nine points and 0.75 points per match, fourth-highest in the conference.
Meanwhile, the defense allowed just 0.94 goals per match during the season, the fourth-best in the conference. Sophomore keeper Jace Bennett (Falling Waters, W.Va. / Spring Mills) posted an .811 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 regular season.
Catholic, under the direction of Lycoming College Athletics Hall of Famer Connor Keenan '14, has been a stout team on both sides of the ball this season, finishing second in the Landmark in both goals scored (33) and allowed (9), while allowing just three goals in conference play. The Cardinals are led by Holden Woodings, the conference leader in goals (9), points (19), shots (70), and shots on goal (38). Defensively, Catholic has notched nine shutouts while allowing only 38 shots on goal, second-fewest in the league.
In the teams' regular-season meeting, the two sides battled to a 1-1 draw at Catholic's Carlini Field. Despite being outshot 24-2, one of those shots found the net for the Warriors, with Dandridge scoring in the 32nd minute. Catholic drew even on Seth Michalak's goal in the 81st minute. Bennett made six saves for Lycoming in the contest.
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 in 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.
