BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Making their first appearance in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament since 2015, the Bloomsburg men's soccer team is headed to the tournament championship game after a thrilling 3-2 win over Gannon Friday afternoon.
 
The Huskies earned the No. 1 seed in the East and hosting rights after going 13-4-1 in the regular season and have tied the program's wins record with their 14^th of the year. With the top seed, the Huskies earned a bye through the first round and had fresh legs for their match-up with Gannon.
 
A tough foul in the box in the third minute of action gave the Golden Knights an early opportunity to grab the lead. Sergio Del Castillo buried his penalty kick, and Gannon led 1-0.
 
The Bloomsburg offense went to work and got three quick shots off, and sophomore Anthony Schlee's (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) hard shot on the ground was stopped by the Gannon keeper, Samuel Alarcon. Tinashe Katsande looked to push the Gannon lead to 2-0 in the 28^th minute, but sophomore Brady Rimple (Cherryville, Pa./Northampton Area) grabbed the shot and kept the game at 1-0.
 
A foul on Gannon set up a free kick for the Huskies. After putting the ball in the box, Bloomsburg kept the pressure on. Patrick Walsh (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) got an initial shot that ricocheted off a defender to senior Liam Harmon (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg Area), who finished it past Alarcon to tie the game 1-1 in the 33^rd minute.
 
An unfortunate bounce on a corner kick with less than seven to play in the opening half gave the lead back to Gannon, 2-1, and Bloomsburg could not get the equalizer before the halftime horn.
 
Gannon had a golden opportunity to grab a two-goal lead as Sverre Orten pulled Rimple just off his line enough to have a wide-open left side. Still, freshman Braden Alicea (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) positioned himself in the perfect spot to help out his keeper and made a save on Orten's shot to keep the game close.
 
The Huskies worked the ball down the other side of the field, and Sammy Ames (Holly Ridge, N.C./Dixon) drew a foul outside of the box to set up a free kick. He grabbed the ball off a defender's foot after the kick and worked his way through the defense to rip a shot off from about 20 yards out to tie the game 2-2 in the 63^rd minute.
 
After a barrage of shots from Gannon that came up short, the Huskies found the game-winner with 11:31 to play. After the Huskies were fouled by the goal-line extended to the right of the net, graduation student Olly Whitham (Clitheroe, Lancashire, England/Settle College) put the free kick into the box, and Walsh jumped over the Gannon defense and buried a perfect header to give the Huskies their first lead of the game, 3-2.
 
Alarcon stopped a final shot by Ames with 1:38 to play, and the 3-2 lead was enough for the semifinals win.
 
Gannon out-shot the Huskies 19-15 though shots on goal were even at 7-7. Bloomsburg finished with five saves, and each goalie had four. Bloomsburg held a 5-4 edge in corner kicks.
 
The Huskies advance to the PSAC title game for the fifth time in school history, with the last in 2014. Bloomsburg is set to square off against Mercyhurst, the top seed out of the West, which defeated East Stroudsburg 3-1 Friday evening. The PSAC Championship game is on Sunday, November 6, at 1:00 p.m. at Steph Pettit Stadium.