Medaille Sports

It’s beginning to seem like a scene from the movie “Groundhog Day” as the Medaille College men’s soccer team will play host to the AMCC Championship for the fifth straight year, and for the third straight year they will be pitted against Penn State-Behrend.  The Mavs reached the finals with yet another shutout victory as they blanked Frostburg State (3-0) in their semifinal match-up.  The shutout is their ninth straight and fifteenth of the season.  The Mavs have not allowed a goal since a (1-0) overtime loss at then #19 Hobart College on September 29th.  This evening’s game was a stalemate for much of the opening half as Frostburg State had a few early chances before surrendering play to the Mavs.  The Mavs would break the ice in the 34th minute as sophomore Alexander Rouse (Marcellus, NY/Marcellus) blistered a shot past the diving Bobcat keeper to give the Mavs the (1-0) edge.  Three minutes later it would again be Rouse finishing on a Gary Boughton (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) offering as he extended the Mavs lead to (2-0) on his 16th goal of the season.  The Mavs would continue their onslaught in the 44th minute as Stuart Ziegler (West Plains, MO/West Plains) headed home a well served ball from Mike Antkowiak (Clarence, NY/Clarence) to give Medaille a three goal cushion.  The story of the match may have been the play of sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Goettel (Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse)(pictured) who only had to stop one Bobcat shot in the first half of the game but made several great saves late in the game to preserve the shutout, he finished with seven stops on the day. The win moves Medaille to (16-2-2) on the year and they will host Penn State-Behrend on Saturday (11/7) at 7:00pm in the AMCC Championship game.  The winner of that match will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.  In their previous two championship match-ups these two teams have split, with Medaille handing the Lions a (3-0) loss in last years title game.  The Mavs are seeking their fourth tournament appearance in the last five years.