BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The adage entails good things come to those who wait.
The Bloomsburg men's soccer program no longer has to wait, as the 2024 Huskies claimed the first PSAC Championship title in team history with a 2-1 victory over Gannon at Steph Pettit Stadium Sunday afternoon. After back-to-back heartbreaking defeats at home in the 2022 and 2023 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference postseason tournaments, the Huskies went through the top two teams in the West to capture the elusive hardware.
After a scoreless first half, the drama poured over into the second half, with Bloomsburg (15-3-2) jumping out to a 2-1 lead. Senior forwards
Anthony Schlee (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) and
Parker Nickelsen (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) netted the Huskies' goal to provide a 2-0 lead as Bloomsburg hunkered down and held on for the win despite a late surge from the Golden Knights (14-3-3).
With 12 saves across the two tournament matches and playing a leading role in keeping the top-scoring offense in the nation at bay, graduate goalkeeper
Brady Rimple (Cherryville, Pa./Northampton Area) received Tournament MVP honors for his heroics.
How It Happened:
Sunday's result did not come with ease to the Huskies, playing on the back foot for much of the first half. Rimple and the Bloomsburg defense sat through a barrage of chances from a full-throttle attacking onslaught from Gannon. In the first 15 minutes of the contest, the Huskies fended off nine shots and three corners, featuring three saves from the 2024 PSAC Tournament MVP.
Bloomsburg's early efforts pushing into the Golden Knights' half came with a quick turn of possession or a direct pass that fell just off the mark to an intended target streaking up the middle. The Huskies did not record their first shot of the day until the 30th minute, with
Owen Peri (Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown) sending a header over the crossbar from a corner.
As the opening half winded down, Bloomsburg found a rhythm in its build-up play and established a level of composure missing from the early minutes of the game. The Huskies' first chance of the game from its preferred setup, the controlled chaos of a long throw-in. As Gannon looked to clear,
Patrick Walsh (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) and the Golden Knights' Sverre Orten simultaneously struck the ball, which sent it high in the air and back toward the Gannon goal. Schlee recorded the Huskies' first shot on goal with a volley stopped by the Golden Knights' Andre Moraes.
Gannon nearly found the opening goal in the last few moments of the first half. Forward Alander Soares drove a hard-struck shot at Rimple that bounced back into play. With nobody able to settle it in the box, Bloomsburg eventually sent the ball out of play for the first of three corners in the final two minutes, with Gannon and Bloomsburg walking to their respective benches before the halftime whistle.
Momentum was not on the Huskies' side, as the Golden Knights held a double-digit shot advantage at 13-2, with Rimple coming through with four critical stops. The pressure through the first 45 minutes resided in Bloomsburg's end, with Gannon additionally holding a 6-1 advantage from corner kicks.
The Huskies used the break for a needed reset and found the winning recipe with the halftime adjustments. The Golden Knights' Rafa Hyde maintained Gannon's aggressive foot from the first half with a pair of shots outside the box that fell comfortably into Rimple's gloves inside the first two-and-a-half minutes out of the whistle.
After nearly finding the opener from a throw-in during the opening 45 minutes, Bloomsburg found the opener on the opposite end of the field.
Teagan Wallace's (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley Regional) efforts in the midfield extend to the sideline with a deep hurl into the box that deflected off a Golden Knight toward the back post with a lurking Schlee. Similar to the Huskies' surrendered goal to Slippery Rock in the semifinal, Schlee lined up the ball on his right foot and fired home the chance to put his team up 1-0.
Bloomsburg did not rest with its uptick in pressure in the second half, doubling its advantage seven minutes later. With Gannon looking to build from the back, the play near the team benches turned into a game of pinball before a breakaway.
Braden Alicea (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) headed the ball back toward the center of the pitch to Wallace, with the midfielder's eyes locked on his next move. The senior perfectly split the Golden Knights' center-back duo to hit a streaking Nickelsen with plenty of time and space in a one-on-one with Moraes. Calmly setting the ball, the fellow senior waited patiently for the Gannon goalkeeper to come out of his backpedal and dart toward the ball before toe-poking the effort into the bottom left corner to extend the lead to 2-0.
Both teams maintained the initiative of searching for goals as Rimple and Moraes made pivotal, near-post saves for their squads moments apart to keep the score the same. The Golden Knights' first goal nearly came in the 74th minute with a ball perfectly squared for Rafa Hyde. The forward lined the ball up to the bottom right corner, but Rimple's desire reigned supreme on a full-extension save to keep Gannon off the scoreboard.
After searching for a goal for nearly 79 minutes, the Golden Knights took advantage of its corner advantage to cut the contest to 2-1. Another scramble between the two sides saw James Pool initially get a shot off for Gannon before the ball bounced around, leaking out toward the back post, allowing Soares to hammer home a shot into the roof of the net.
With the game on the line, the physicality of Sunday's game intensified through the final 10 minutes of the game. With several cards issued and several shots fired off, the Huskies leaned on their defense again to wall off the charging Golden Knights. With the final foul call going against Gannon,
Micah Diggs (Groton, Conn./Fitch) punted the ball down the field and ended a decades-long wait.
Numbers of Note:
11/15 - November 15 is permanently cemented as the most meaningful date in program history. One year after winning the program's first NCAA Tournament game, the Huskies secured the first conference title in the team's 51-year history.
15 - Sitting at 14 wins entering Sunday's contest, Bloomsburg men's soccer checked off an additional box with a program-record 15th win from the PSAC Title contest.
48 & 10 - Valiantly serving his team, Schlee's efforts off the bench and in the second half provided the necessary spark to awaken the home crowd. The senior captain's career achievements continue to add up, now sitting at 48 career points and four consecutive seasons reaching double digits.
On the Horizon:
Able to sit back with an automatic qualifying bid, Bloomsburg men's soccer awaits the reveal of the 2024 NCAA Tournament field with the NCAA Selection Show at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, November 18.
