Lycoming News

Penn College men's soccer team is preparing for a first-round playoff match in the United East Conference against Keystone College. The game will take place at UPMC Field at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Head Coach Tyler Mensch emphasized the importance of strong defense and timely scoring, stating, "Our defense and goalkeeping play was really solid." He added, "Our goal is always to allow one goal or less per match and we ended the regular season statistically at 1.12 goals allowed per game."

Penn College finished their conference games with a record of 5-1-2 and an overall record of 10-4-3, earning them the sixth seed in the playoffs. Keystone College holds the 11th seed with a conference record of 2-4-2 and an overall record of 3-11-2. The winner will face third-seeded Cairn University on Saturday in a quarterfinal match.

The two teams did not compete against each other during the regular season but shared seven common opponents. Both Penn College and Keystone defeated Gallaudet University and Wilson College, tied Lancaster Bible College, lost to Penn State Abington and King's College, had mixed results against Rosemont College, and split results against Cairn.

Offensively, Tommy DeGeyter leads Penn College with three goals and four assists in conference play. Defensively, Cole Catherman has allowed five goals with a goals-against average of 1.07.

Keystone's key player Hernan Goday has scored four UE goals with two assists while goalkeeper Landon Keller has conceded 14 goals.

Coach Mensch commented on facing Keystone: "Keystone is a very well-coached team," he said. "We will hopefully use our athleticism and speed on the flanks to cause some problems in the final third."

Historically, Keystone leads their series against Penn College with five wins to one loss; however, Penn won their last meeting 2-0 last season.

Mensch expressed enthusiasm for hosting the playoff match: "We are excited to host Keystone in the program's first-ever United East Conference home playoff match."

Other teams competing include St. Mary's College (Md.), Penn State Abington, Cairn University among others.