Erie, Pa. – Entering the 2015 season many outside of the men's soccer program could not have envisioned the type of success the Marauders have enjoyed after a rough 2014 and vast roster turnover. The Black & Gold stormed out of the gates posting nine shutouts on their way to 11-0-1 start—the best in program history. The string of success carried to the postseason as the No. 21-ranked Marauders shut out Bloomsburg on Friday, earning a trip to the PSAC Championship where they squared off against Slippery Rock Sunday. Millersville opened the scoring early, but Slippery Rock overcame the deficit with two second half goals to defeat Millersville 2-1 at the Mercyhurst Soccer Field in Erie, Pa.
 
Millersville (14-4-1) seized the early momentum jumping to the 1-0 lead just under two minutes into the match. The Marauders earned a corner kick opportunity that was taken by Ryan Phelps and placed in the middle of The Rock's 18-yard box and eventually found Chase Flickinger who fed Tanner Brenize, who fired a laser inside the far post.
 
"The early goal was great for us, it was an opportunistic moment and great finish by Tanner," said ninth-year head coach Steve Widdowson. "Unfortunately I don't think we really fed off the early momentum and energy."
 
Slippery Rock's starting lineup included nine juniors and seniors, and the experience paid off, as it didn't let the early goal become the story of the match. The Rock (14-6) earned three corner kicks and nine shot attempts in the first half but they were unable to turn any of the opportunities into the equalizer. Senior Ryan Lutke fired both of SRU's shots on goal in the first half, first off of a header in the 10th minute and again with a low line drive in the 38th minute. However, Marauder goalkeeper Kohl Orner stopped both attempts sending Millersville into halftime leading 1-0.

The teams traded possession in the opening 25 minutes of the second half until the 64^th minute when Lutke sent in a free kick within the Marauder box that deflected off of a Millersville defender and past Orner to tie the game at 1-1 with 26:08 left to play.
 
According to Widdowson there wasn't much of a difference between the Marauder style of play in the first and second periods.
 
"We just didn't quite execute today, our passing wasn't as clean and fluid as it normally is and then we had two unfortunate moments in the box in which Slippery Rock capitalized," said Widdowson.
 
The Rock scored the go-ahead goal in the 71^st minute when Peter Boylan recovered his deflected shot and placed his second shot attempt into the back of the Marauder net.
 
Millersville ramped up its offensive pressure over the remainder of the match, but Slippery Rock's defense stymied each attempt, successfully clearing six shots and three corners over the final 19 minutes of play.
 
The Ville finished with an 18-15 advantage in shot attempts as it placed six shots on target. Orner finished the match with two saves upping his season total to 68.
 
The win gave Slippery Rock its eighth league title all-time and third since the 2009 season. Millersville has formed an outstanding resume that is arguably strong enough to earn a berth into the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
 
"I am extremely proud of everything we achieved this year and I've told the team that they have nothing to hang their heads about," said Widdowson. "This is such a young team coming off a poor season a year ago and to make it to the conference final is a tremendous achievement within itself."
 
The Ville was ranked fourth in the most recent NCAA Atlantic Regional rankings and owns a 13-4-1 in-region record. The 2015 NCAA Tournament field will be unveiled at 6 p.m. Monday evening.