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BLOOMSBURG – A valiant upset attempt by the Bloomsburg men's soccer team came up short with the Huskies (3-8-1, 1-4-1 PSAC) suffering a 2-1 setback at the hands of No. 15 Slippery Rock  (8-1-1, 3-1-0 PSAC) on Friday evening at Sports Stadium.

The two squads played nearly evenly during the first half, with Bloomsburg holding a 9-7 edge in shots in the opening period. Slippery Rock broke the scoreless deadlock with 23 minutes on the clock. Dom Francis passed to Declan Brennan who did the rest, heading in his shot for the 1-0 lead.

The Rock nearly doubled its edge in the 34th minute when Michael Ramirez worked his way through on a break away, but his shot was denied on an excellent save by Huskies goalie Bernie Roell (Douglassville/Daniel Boone), keeping the score 1-0 at the break.

Bloomsburg would even the score in the 62nd minute. Following a Bloomsburg corner kick, a loose ball bounced in traffic and ricocheted off a Rock defender and right to Spencer Conrad (Enola/East Pennsboro) who blasted a shot from the right wing over the keeper's head to even the match.

The tie would not last long, however, as The Rock answered less than two minutes later. Brandon Chiu tipped in a pass from Michael Ramirez to re-take advantage in the 64th minute.

Roell kept the margin at just one, turning away back-to-back chances from The Rock. First, Peter Boylan broke away for a one-on-one before Roell came out of the box to make an impressive save in the 78th minute. Less than a minute later, Roell turned away another shot on Mike Pcholinsky's attempt.

The Huskies created a chance on an attack in the 79th minute when Nate Conrad (Enola/East Pennsboro)'s shot from the left wing five yards out was blocked by a defender.

Bloomsburg put together one last rally attempt in the final seconds, mounting a frenzy in front of The Rock net, including a shot on goal from Husky keeper Roell, who raced out from the BU net to give the hosts an extra attacker. Slippery Rock was able to turn away the attack, preserving the victory.

BU held a narrow, 17-16 edge in shots for the match while Bloomsburg earned 12 corner kicks to The Rock's three.

Chris Zier made six saves to earn the win in net for SRU while Roell turned seven shots away for the Huskies.

Bloomsburg returns to action at Sports Stadium vs. California (PA) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday evening as part of Homecoming Weekend.