MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Millersville Marauders held off waves of No. 3-ranked Adelphi attackers for as long as they could, but the Panthers eventually broke through and claimed a 2-0 non-conference win on Saturday afternoon at Pucillo Field. The Marauders created a couple chances early in the game, including a give-and-go opportunity between Spencer Shortt and Jacob Gosselin, but could not find the back of the net.

Adelphi struck for two first half goals in both the 17^th and 22^nd minutes and kept a clean sheet the rest of the way to remain unbeaten and improve to 11-0-1 in the 2019 season.

The loss is the Marauders' first since Sept. 25. Adelphi is the fifth nationally-ranked team to face the Marauders in 2019, joining No. 9 Mercy College, No. 10 Gannon University, No. 16 Wilmington (DE) and No. 23 West Chester. Millersville trails West Chester by two points for first place in the PSAC East standings but has played one less game.

The Marauders remain unbeaten in PSAC play with a 5-0-2 conference record.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Millersville goalkeeper Darian McCauley kept Adelphi off the board early when Taylor Kaczynski had a one-on-one opportunity in the 3^rd minute. McCauley dove to his right to parry the shot away.
• One minute later it was the Marauders threatening at the other end of the field. Spencer Shortt and Jacob Gosselin used the give-and-go to create some space for a through ball to Gosselin, but the Adelphi defense recovered in the nick of the time to clear the ball away.
• The Panthers finally pounced in the 17^th minute. Kaczynski dribbled into the box from the left wing and towards the near post, flashing a low hard cross across the face of goal. Ofek Pinto went to ground at the far post, getting a foot on it to redirect it into the net for the 1-0 lead.
• Adelphi added another strike just five minutes later, when Paolo Marciano crossed from the far post towards Fillipo Peri who had set up shop at the near post. The ball found Peri's feet and he finished from close range for the 2-0 lead.
• Millersville's best chance came in the 62^nd minute. Gosselin sprinted past the defense down the left wing and fired on goal. Adelphi keeper Daniel De La Heras dove to the ground and barely pushed it away, landing directly at the feet of Bryce Martin. Martin smashed a shot towards a wide open goal but the ball struck the right post and ricocheted harmlessly away.

POST GAME REACTION FROM HEAD COACH STEVE WIDDOWSON
• On what can be taken away from the game: "There's always value in every game that you play. It's just reiterating the things we've talked about with the players all season. How important it is to stay switched on, focused and concentrated for an absolute 90 minutes, especially when you play teams that have the level of quality that these guys have. If you switch off, you get punished for it."

• On playing a tough non-conference schedule against nationally-ranked teams: "It's about quality. It's where the difference is told between the teams that we've played that are ranked at those kinds of levels and where we're at. We have some good quality but it's not quite where it needs to be right now. It just comes down to those one versus ones, those individual moments and who capitalizes on them."

• On today's gameplan: "We were trying to get it into the channels early. They're very cavalier about their attacking. They pretty much attack with eight players and leave the two center backs in there, so there was a lot of space down the flanks. We tried to get them on the back foot early on and we had a couple of good sniffs. There were one or two opportunities but again, we just lacked the quality to get it in the right areas."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Adelphi out-shot Millersville 12-6 and earned six corner kicks to Millersville's none.
• Jacob Gosselin did not score a goal for the first time in three games.
• Both teams committed eight fouls in the game.
• Marauders goalkeeper Darian McCauley was credited with four saves in the game.

NOTES
•  With the loss the Marauders are now 1-2-1 all-time versus Adelphi.
• The Panthers have now won four games in a row.
•  Millersville has one game remaining in its four-game homestand.

UP NEXT
• The Marauders host Shippensburg University on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Millersville defeated the Raiders 1-0 on a last-second Jacob Gosselin goal in double overtime back on Sept. 21.