MSBN Broadcast
Live Stats

Millersville, Pa. — A year later, the sour taste still lingers. Up 2-1 with 20 minutes to go in last year's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship Game, the Millersville men's soccer team was blindsided by California's late-game two-goal rally, leaving them short of an elusive first conference title. For most of this year's Marauders, Wednesday's PSAC Semifinal will be a familiar stage, but it is a necessary step on the ladder back to the conference championship game.

The Marauders finished the regular season with a conference-best 16-1 record and an untouched 8-0 mark in the PSAC Eastern Division. To find the program's last conference loss, you'd have to go back to the last game of 2007, when MU was dropped by Lock Haven. After completing a 10-0 conference slate last season, Millersville has stretched its PSAC unbeaten streak to 18 games.

Standing in the way of Millersville's return trip to the PSAC Championship is an upstart Bloomsburg Huskies' team that has recorded double-digit wins for the first time since 2003. From 2006-2007, Bloom won just six games total, but head coach Paul Payne has done a nice job in getting players to fit his system over the last two seasons. The turnaround culminated in a 10-5-2 record during the regular season, including a 5-2-1 mark in the Eastern Division. The Huskies' are rewarded with their first PSAC playoff appearance in six years.

Flipping around a program is something Millersville's Steve Widdowson can relate to. In his third season, Widdowson holds the highest winning percentage of any coach in the program's history, emerging victorious in more than 82-percent of the 56 games he has coached at MU.

On the field, the 2009 Marauders have already made their fair share of marks on the men's soccer record books. The team has amassed 12 shutouts, a single-season record, thanks to a strong defensive core and goalkeeper Matt Langione. Langione, a two-time PSAC East Men's Soccer Athlete of the Week this season, set the school's record for career wins in back on Oct. 13 and has notched four more since then to run his total to 43.

The Black and Gold is also in the midst of a school-record 11-game winning streak, thanks to a wealth of offensive depth. Junior Kyle Loughlin leads the charge for the Marauders with 27 points. Loughlin has a team-high 11 goals and has chipped in five assists. Pat Baffuto, Aaron Roland, and Matt Wilson all have double-digit point campaigns going, while Anthony Pagnotti and Dan Prian each sit a point shy of joining that club. Millersville's roster boasts nine multi-goal scorers.

Bloomsburg has played the Marauders tough in two previous meetings this season. MU handed the Huskies a pair of 2-0 defeats, the first coming on Sept. 5 at Chryst Field and the latter coming nearly a month ago in Bloomsburg. The Huskies are strong from the goal out. Keeper David Leiendecker leads the PSAC in saves with 107 and ranks amongst the top-five PSAC keepers in goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts.

Offensively, Bloomsburg relies heavily on the production of two players, freshmen Tyler Phillips and Bryce Shaffer. Phillips, the reigning PSAC East Men's Soccer Athlete of the Week, has a team-leading 11 goals and 23 points this season. His fellow rookie, Shaffer, is the only other Bloomsburg player to register double-digit points, having picked up 14 on four goals and six assists.

Millersville and Bloomsburg have never met in the PSAC Tournament. The Marauders are making their ninth trip to the tournament, having advanced to the championship game five times. The Huskies, meanwhile, are making their seventh appearance. Bloom has made it to the final twice, most recently in 1996. Neither school has ever won a PSAC title.

Wednesday's semifinal kicks off at 6 p.m. at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium. Admission is free for PSAC students with their I.D. cards. Tickets for all other students with an I.D. are $2 and adult tickets are $7. Those unable to make it out to Chryst Field can listen on MSBN and follow along by clicking on the live stats link here.