Box Score Erie, Pa. - After scoring a combined seven goals in the regular season meeting a week ago, the Millersville men's soccer team and No. 24 Slippery Rock went scoreless through 110 minutes of play in the PSAC Semifinals on Friday afternoon. The Marauders missed two penalty kick attempts and lost in heartbreak fashion, 4-3 in the penalty shootout.

Millersville (12-5-2) was the No. 3 seed in the tournament and outshot No. 2 seed Slippery Rock (12-3-3) 5-3 in the overtime periods and nearly ended the game on multiple occasions in the extra sessions. The Rock goalkeeper Joe Agerskow stopped a breakaway opportunity by Andrew Dukes in the first overtime, and in the final overtime period, Millersville had the ball inches away from the goal line but was unable to finish and went into the penalty shootout.

The Marauders kicked first in penalty kicks and had a perfect start when senior Colby Zeger buried his free attempt. Goalkeeper Brad Benzing then made a stellar save on Slippery Rock's Michael Ramirez, to put Millersville up 1-0 after the first round.

The Rock evened the score when Dukes' shot was saved by Agerskowm and Rock leading scorer Stephen Donnelly made his penalty kick, tying the shootout 1-1 after two rounds.

Ryan Rohrer got the Marauders back on top when he led off the third round with a goal, but Slippery Rock evened the shootout with a score of its own in third round.

Junior Austin Hoke stepped into the box for the Marauders fourth attempt and saw his shot ricochet off the post and back on to the field, giving Slippery Rock a slight advantage with only a round and a half to go. The Rock's team leader in assists, Joshua Gray, beat Benzing after the Hoke miss and placed all the pressure on the final shooters for each team.

In the fifth and final round, Millersville needed a score to stay alive. Senior Zach Carraciolo stepped up with the weight of the team on his back, sent his shot into the nylon netting and tied the shootout 4-4 with one kicker left for The Rock. Ryan Lutke was selected for Slippery Rock. The sophomore was unfazed by Benzing and placed his shot out of Benzing's reach to vault Slippery Rock into the PSAC title game.

Slippery Rock will now face top-seeded Mercyhurst tomorrow in the championship game. It is a rematch of the 2012 title game, in which the Lakers defeat The Rock, 1-0.

The shutout loss was only the second time all year that the Marauders were held without a goal. Millersville had accumulated 73 points in its last six games prior to Friday's semifinal contest.

Millersville came into the semifinal match ranked first in the PSAC in goals scored, assists, and total points. Slippery Rock boasted the top defense, allowing just 15 goals all season. The Rock defense did just enough to keep the Marauders high octane attack off the scoreboard, and pull out the penalty kick win. Both teams finished with 17 shots, five shots on goal, and five corners. Jeramey Robbins and Dukes tallied nine of the Black and Gold's 17 shots.

The Rock got off to a quick start, taking nine shots in the first half and limiting Millersville to only three. The Marauders flipped the script in the second peiod, outshooting Slippery Rock 9-5. Slippery Rock had a 5-2 advantage in corners in regulation, and the Black and Gold took three corner kicks in the second overtime alone, but were still unable to score.

Today's semifinal meeting was the first time that these two teams have met in the conference tournament since the PSAC title game in 2009. Slippery Rock scored two early goals in that game and held on to a 2-1 victory.

Head coach Steve Widdowson has guided the Marauders to the PSAC Semifinals in each of his first seven seasons at the helm of the men's soccer program. Aftering winning the PSAC Championship in 2011, the Marauders have been halted in the semifinals in each of the past two seasons.

Millersville now awaits to hear from the NCAA selection committee to see if it will be granted a berth into the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is set for Monday at 7 p.m. The Marauders were fifth in the latest NCAA Atlantic regional poll, with the top four teams advancing to the national tournament.