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Men’s soccer comes up short

The PSU Men’s Soccer team came up just short in a defensive nail biter against Rhode Island College in the Little East Conference championship game by a score of 1-0 on Sat., Nov. 8 in Providence, R.I.  

With the victory, RIC grabbed its first ever LEC championship.  They will move on to play Babson College on Nov. 15.

RIC junior Ryan Kelley scored the games only goal in the 87th minute of the game to lift his team over the Panthers.  RIC junior defender Kory Pacheco intercepted a PSU pass and then passed it to Kelley who put it by PSU goalie Tyler Shute.  Pacheco went on to win the LEC tournament Most Outstanding Player award after the game.  

RIC junior goalie Justin O’ Connor was solid in pitching his eigth shutout of the year while recording eight saves.  O’ Connor needed one more shutout to tie the school record for most shutouts in a single season.  Tyler Shute was also impressive in stopping five of the six shots that went his way.  This game continued the hot steak RIC has against PSU. RIC is 7-0-2 against the Panthers in the last nine meetings between the two schools.

PSU head coach Robert Wright was able to see some of the things the team did well after the tough loss, “We played very well on a very difficult field, very small and poor condition.  The game was very even and I think everyone expected it to go into overtime and possibly PK’s. We stopped them from creating any clear cut opportunities but likewise they defended well against us.”

Although PSU finished the year 8-9-3, they made an incredible run in the tournament.  The Panthers defeated UMass Boston to get into the tournament, and then went on to defeat Western Connecticut in the quarterfinals.  In the semifinals, PSU shocked top seeded Southern Maine to earn a spot in the title game against RIC.  

PSU head coach Robert Wright was pleased with the way his team put it all together at the end of the season, “I think it was a fantastic run that the guys put together down the stretch, beating good teams and beating them comprehensively,” said Wright  “I’m not sure it does too much regarding next year, simply because the history and demands of our program are such that going to conference championships is the bear minimum expectation.”

PSU will lose a great deal of experience and leadership as they will lose seven seniors heading into next season.  Seven of the 21 players on the squad are seniors.  The younger guys will have to fill some pretty big shoes next season as they look to repeat what this years seniors did in leading the team to the LEC title game.