LHU men’s soccer caps regular season in style, grabs 3-1 win at Shippensburg
SHIPPENSBURG, PA – The Lock Haven University men’s soccer team (13-2-2, 10-1-1 PSAC East) ended the 2021 regular season with flair, downing Shippensburg University (4-10-3, 2-10 PSAC East), 3-1, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division road-contest Saturday night.
Just hours after knocking home two extra points as the kicker for the LHU football team, Samuel Hershey (Lancaster, Pa./McCaskey) got the Bald Eagles started in the 20th minute with a header goal off a cross from Colton Swanson (Bradford, Pa./Bradford). The freshman dual-sport sensation’s 13th goal this season gave LHU the 1-0 lead until the Raiders Kyle Willworth converted a penalty kick in the 25th minute to knot the game up at 1-1.
Zane Puhala (Brockway, Pa./Brockway) swung the score back in favor of LHU when he knocked home a goal late in the first half off an assist from Andrea DiSomma (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Twp.). LHU took a 2-1 lead into the halftime break off Puhala’s fifth goal on the year.
After his assist in the first half, DiSomma tacked on an insurance goal as the Bald Eagles rolled to a 3-1 victory. Hershey picked up the helper on DiSomma’s goal for his eighth assist of the year.
Aitor Ruiz de Eguilaz (Euskadi, Spain/Koldo Mitxelena (Robert Morris)) was forced into only two saves as the LHU defense was stingy yet again. Chase Tackett (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) and Dean Lewis (Belfast, Northern Ireland/Model Boys School) headlined the backline for the Bald Eagles that allowed just three shots on target.
The win pushes LHU to 13 victories on the year, which matched the Bald Eagles highest win total since the 2007 season.
The win also pushed The Haven’s win streak to seven games, the longest win streak in 20 years, dating back to the 2001 campaign.
LHU has already locked itself into the No. 1 seed in the PSAC Eastern Division for next weekend’s conference tournament. Lock Haven will face the winner of the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds from the Western Division on Friday, Nov. 12 in semifinal action.
