LANGHORNE, PA - The Crimson Eagles didn't necessarily start out their showdown with Penn State Harrisburg in the first round of the NEAC tournament as anticipated, but despite a somewhat sluggish opening PBU rallied and made sure to come out of Friday's contest on top to help propel the team into the conference championship.
Coming in as the top seeded team in the tournament, the Crimson Eagles found themselves in an early 1-0 hole to the fourth seeded Lions when Harrisburg's Danny Francis scored his 13th goal of the season 13:03 into the contest. For the remainder of the first half play stayed in the middle of the field the majority of the time as both teams appeared to be deadlocked in a defensive struggle. Although the Crimson Eagles had one or two legitimate scoring opportunities throughout the first stanza they were unable to finish offensively, keeping the score notched at 1-0 to enter halftime.
The start of the second half was largely a different story as PBU immediately began to find their rhythm and click offensively. Their effort paid off at the 51:02 mark when senior midfielder Andy Miller launched a deep shot at the 18 which ended up getting past Lion keeper Andrew Geib to even the score at 1-1.
PBU continued to put pressure on Penn State's back line for the next 20 minutes and scored again at the 71:35 mark. Junior Warren Scales slipped behind Harrisburg's defense and found himself in a one on one situation with Penn State's goalie which he converted to give PBU a 2-1 advantage.
In the final 15 minutes of play both teams had several opportune chances to score, but luckily Crimson Eagle keeper Andy Ecker made two enormous diving saves in the closing minutes to help preserve PBU's lead.
Sophomore midfielder Graham Foster was credited with two assists on the day. PBU outshot Penn State Harrisburg 18-9 and held a 10-3 advantage in the second half alone.
The win advances PBU into the NEAC Finals. A victory tomorrow would not only crown the Crimson Eagles NEAC champs but it would also give PBU an opportunity to participate in the NCAA Division III National Tournament for the first time in program history. The Crimson Eagles will take on the winner of Penn State Berks and Keuka College who play later this afternoon at 2:00 pm. The conference championship will be played on Saturday at 1:00 pm.
