Slippery Rock men’s soccer season closed at home with a 2-1 win against the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown last Thursday.
The game opened with two shots on goal from UPJ, both were saved by SRU goalie Alvey Kaufman.
The Rock opened the scoring in the 12th minute of the game with a goal. After a corner kick from Colton Swanson and the ball deflected off two Pitt-Johnstown defenders, it ended up in the net.
In the following minutes, the Mountain Cats tried to tie the score behind two corner kicks and a shot on goal, but ultimately came up empty.
Offense showed up for both teams throughout the first half, with a combined 13 shots. The White and Green edged UPJ by owning nine of those 13 shots.
Slippery Rock closed out the half with pressure after delivering three shot attempts, two of which came from Patrick Tierney.
It is the junior transfer student’s first season with The Rock, and he put up a season-high during the game with three shots, all of which were on target.
After the half, it was SRU’s turn to make the first move, with Kaden Reynolds kicking a shot to the bottom of the net that the Mountain Cats’ goalie saved.
Just a minute later, UPJ evened the scoreboard with a goal to an empty net after a miscommunication on Slippery Rock.
Pitt-Johnstown attempted to take the lead right after, but the shot sailed high. They got off four more attempts before The Rock took the lead.
Tierney scored the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute. It was his first goal with the team.
The White and Green ran out the last 17 minutes, not letting the Mountain Cats get another opportunity to score.
The Rock led the charge with a 21-9 advantage in shots and 9-6 in shots on goal.
With that being the last game, Slippery Rock has finished back-to-back seasons with at least a .500 winning percentage.
