LANGHORNE, PA - The men's soccer team won their third consecutive NCCAA regional championship Monday, overpowering Lancaster Bible College 3-0 on a cold afternoon in front of a home crowd in Langhorne.
The win gives the Crimson Eagles an automatic berth into the NCCAA national tournament and keeps their hopes alive to avenge last season's loss in the championship game to Southeastern University, 1-0.
Statistically the Crimson Eagles held all the advantages. They ran away with shots on goal, holding a 29-5 edge, including a 19-2 advantage in the second half. PBU also dominated corners taken by an 8-2 margin for the contest.
Senior Dan Schlegel scored the first two goals of the day for the Crimson Eagles, the first which came only 3:18 into the contest off an assist from Derek Mosely. The Schlegel-Mosely combo has become somewhat routine as it marks the 11th time this year that the senior duo has connected for an assist and a score. The Chargers upped their defensive effort for the rest of the first period as they kept the score at 1-0 going into halftime.
Unfortunately for LBC, Schlegel opened the second stanza of play with another goal within the first four minutes of play as he notched his second score of the afternoon at the 48:24 mark. Despite keeping constant pressure on Charger keeper Alex Groop the Crimson Eagles weren't able to score again until sophomore Phil Haas put PBU up 3-0 off an assist from senior Brent Fornwalt with just over one minute left in the contest.
After a somewhat slow start to the season early in the year, the Crimson Eagles have turned things on as of late registering only one loss in their last 13 games and compiling an 11-1-1 record during that span. For the season, PBU is 14-4-2 while Lancaster Bible College falls to 8-12. Unfortunately for the Chargers, today's game marks their last of the 2007 campaign as they needed a win to keep their national tournament hopes alive.
After Saturday's big win, the soccer team will have little time to celebrate as the Crimson Eagles turn their attention to postseason NEAC play. PBU secured the number one seed heading into the conference tournament after their big win against Keuka last week. The Crimson Eagles will play the number four seed in first round action at home on Friday, November 2 at 11:30 am with the winner moving onto the finals scheduled for the following day (Saturday, November 3) at 1:00 pm.
