Men's Soccer | 11/14/2024 12:00:00 PM

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - East No.1 seed, and tournament host Bloomsburg men's soccer takes on West No. 2 seed Slippery Rock in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship Semifinal clash on Friday, November 15, at 12:00 p.m. at Steph Pettit Stadium.

The Huskies enter the meeting 14-3-1 on the season with a 7-2-1 record in conference action. Bloomsburg is coming off a regular-season finale defeat to East-rival Millersville. The Rock enters the matchup with a 9-4-4 record and a 5-2-3 mark in conference play. Slippery Rock is coming off back-to-back matchups against Seton Hill, tying the Griffins 2-2, to end the regular season before picking up a 1-0 victory in the opening round of the conference tournament.

Fans can purchase tickets with the following link through Hudl Tickets. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids K-12. PSAC students with a valid member institution I.D. receive free admission. Tickets can only be purchased via Hudl Tickets and must be made with a cashless purchase.

Inside The Matchup
Bloomsburg and Slippery Rock enter Friday's contest without a meeting since 2018. In that previous October match, the Huskies earned a 4-1 win on home turf. The Rock has the edge in the all-time series between the sides, with Bloomsburg 12-13-5 overall and 7-10-4 since 2001. Since 2014, the Huskies are 3-1-1 in the series. The matchup between the two teams will be the first with postseason status in this millennia.

Bloomsburg is in the midst of one of its best seasons in program history, matching the most victories in a season with 14 entering Friday. The Huskies play host to the PSAC Championship Tournament for the second time in three seasons after earning the honor in 2022. Bloomsburg is making its fifth PSAC Semifinal appearance since 2011. The Huskies are 1-2 in the PSAC Tournament under head coach Mark Bassett. Slippery Rock is back in the postseason for the first time since 2019 and plays in its first semifinal game since 2015. 

Bassett's Hounds
Bloomsburg men's soccer has reached unparalleled success in the program's history under the guidance of Bassett. In his four seasons at the helm, Bassett has accumulated a record of 48-21-7 (.678) to this point, with a 27-14-5 (.641) mark in conference action. The 48 victories are the most by any coach in the team's history over four years while at the top in winning percentage. Bassett leads the Huskies into their third consecutive PSAC Tournament appearance, the first time in program history. Bloomsburg won the East for the second time in three seasons under the leadership of Bassett, earning the right to host after doing so in 2022.

Under Bassett's direction, the Huskies have accumulated 23 All-PSAC East nods, including coaching Patrick Walsh (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) to PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Year honors in 2024 and helping Owen Hollobaugh (State College, Pa./State College) to Freshman of the Year acclaim in 2023. In addition to the all-conference accolades, Bassett helped defender Kody Besser (Lacey Township, N.J./Lacey Township) to All-Atlantic Region honors in 2023, becoming the first player since 2019 and the first defender since 2015 to reach the status. On his shelf, Bassett received PSAC East Coach of the Year honors on Wednesday after earning the distinction in 2022. In the last three seasons, Bassett has matched the program's single-season win record twice (14) and led the program to its first NCAA Tournament victory in team history in 2023 with a 2-1 victory over Southern New Hampshire. 

Defined By Defense
The pillar of the Huskies' success this season has been a reliable and steady defensive effort from all 11 players. Entering Friday's contest, Bloomsburg is in the top 10 in Division II in goals against average (.667), tied for the sixth-fewest goals conceded (12), and third in shutout percentage (.611). Bloomsburg's defensive record propelled a program-record 11-game winning streak earlier this season that featured a seven-game shutout streak. The Huskies went nearly 735 minutes of game time without allowing a goal during the stretch. The Bloomsburg goalkeepers have also played their part in the efforts, combining for a cumulative .789 save percentage on the year and 11 clean sheets.

Experience Matters
With the program's success comes the challenges of maintaining it, and luckily for the Huskies, there is a wealth of experience across the team, not just alone but playing together. 13 members of the Bloomsburg have played 35 games in Maroon & Gold 11 of which have seen action in 40 contests and seven in 50 matches. The group is anchored in the midfield by the tandem of Teagan Wallace (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley Regional) and Alex Wilsterman (Orefield, Pa./Parkland), with the duo combining for 136 games played and 99 starts. In the attack, Parker Nickelsen (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) and Anthony Schlee (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) have appeared in 146 contests with 87 starts. The Huskies add to their experience with junior Quaid Molino (Charleston, S.C./Wando (S.C.) / South Williamsport (Pa.)). After transferring in with 31 career games and seven starts, the midfielder has appeared in 17 matches for Bloomsburg with eight starts for 48 total games. This core group of players will be the backbone of the Huskies' plans.

The Rimple Registry
The three seasons starting in goal for Brady Rimple (Cherryville, Pa./Northampton Area) have earned the goalkeeper a place in the Bloomsburg record books. Rimple broke the school single-season and career shutout records this year, first breaking the career mark in a 6-0 win over Shippensburg before notching the single-season tally in a 4-0 victory over Dominican (NY) in his next outing. Rimple presently stands with 9.5 shutouts this season and 20.5 in his career. Rimple is the only goalkeeper in program history with three seasons reaching five or more shutouts and is the only netminder to reach 20 in a career. Rimple has made several clutch stops in his tenure, including this season, to aid the Huskies' efforts. Thus far, the graduate has a .717 goals against average and a .778 save percentage with 42 stops. Rimple leads the PSAC with nine shutouts.

Give The Dogs Their Bones
Bloomsburg's success this season has come with the help of a contingency of players. The widespread contributions resulted in the team earning a program record with seven All-PSAC East honors, including five first-team selections.

On the first team, Walsh became the first Husky to garner PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Year honors after playing a pivotal role along the backline for Bloomsburg. Walsh led the teams in goals (7) and points (14) during the regular season and led all defenders in the PSAC in goals. Anchoring the center of the defense, Besser earned his second-consecutive first-team nod after finishing second on the team in points (14) and tied for second in goals (4) and assists (5). Besser joins Wilsterman this season as one of nine players in program history to receive three all-conference honors and just the sixth to be a two-time first-team honoree. Rimple rounds out the defensive award recipients with his first all-conference honor, a first-team All-PSAC East bid.

In the midfield, Wallace takes a first-team All-PSAC East spot after notching a career-high nine points, scoring two goals, and recording a career-best five assists. The senior is a two-time all-conference honoree after earning second-team accolades in 2023. Wilsterman pairs with his running mate for second-team honors in his final season. The graduate tied for second on the team with four goals and finished with three assists for 11 points. The midfielder is just one of three players on the team with back-to-back 10-point campaigns and one of three with three seasons reaching the benchmark.

Up front for Bloomsburg, Hollobaugh made consecutive all-conference appearances in his first two seasons on the field for the Huskies. After a second-team bid and Freshman of the Year honors in 2023, Hollobaugh was the final Bloomsburg player with four regular-season goals and two assists to mark consecutive 10-point seasons playing at the point. The sophomore has eight goals and five assists to his career totals. Finally, Schlee makes his second-consecutive All-PSAC East second team after recording two goals and four assists through 18 games. The senior is the team's active leader in goals (17), assists (12), points (46), games played (76) and starts (64).

Numbers to Watch
Both teams' focus will start on keeping one another off the scoresheet. Bloomsburg has held opponents to under eight shots per contest (7.9) through its first 18 games of the season but is coming off a three-goal defeat to PSAC-rival Millersville in its regular-season finale. In that contest, the Marauders only managed seven shots. Slippery Rock is coming off an end of the regular season that saw the team give up five goals in three contests but hunker down to shut down Seton Hill in the PSAC Quarterfinal. In their last two meetings with Seton Hill, the Rock was outshot 28-12. 

Set pieces will play a critical role in creating momentum in the contest. The Huskies average 5.6 corners per contest, while SRU sits at 5.0. Slippery Rock's margins are even with its opponents, surrendering 4.5 per contest. The corner margin for The Rock in its last two games has been 4-12. Bloomsburg has not been able to get to the corner flag in its previous two matches, recording three in the games. Since giving up a season-high on the road at East Stroudsburg, the Huskies have held opponents to 10 corners in six matches.

The attacking efforts for Slippery Rock are led by a trio of all-conference selections. Senior Arturo Pla Hernandis leads the charge with a team-high seven goals this season. Hernandis has scored 28 goals in his four seasons at The Rock and is tied for 12th in program history in the category. Midfielder Aitor Jorde and first-year forward Rasmus Fugl were second-team All-PSAC West contributors this season. Jorde racked up five goals and a team-leading four assists this season after being a first-team all-conference selection and an all-region pick in 2023 following a campaign with 10 goals and two assists. In his first season at SRU, Fugl complemented the attacking options by finishing third on the team with four goals. Slippery Rock finished with two additional second-team selections, including Colton Spence and Ignacio Rullan.

The winner will move on to the PSAC Championship Final against the second semifinal winner between Gannon and West Chester on Sunday, November 17.