MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Millersville men's soccer team celebrated Senior Day at Pucillo Field prior to today's game against Shepherd University, but it was two freshmen and a sophomore who created the team's two goals to give the Marauders a 2-0 victory.

Roger Buesmaill Jr. broke a scoreless tie in the 44^th minute with a left-footed strike from inside the box, while Spencer Shortt received fantastic service from Bob Hennessey and struck true in the 62^nd minute for the team's second goal.

The victory improves the Marauders' unbeaten PSAC record to 8-0-2 (10-4-2 overall) and maintains their first-place position in the PSAC East standings. The West Chester Golden Rams are keeping pace and sit just a single point behind Millersville, while Lock Haven is in third place (eight points clear of the Marauders.)

The Marauders have won the last five conference games they have played and have a 7-1-1 record in the last nine contests.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Millersville almost opened the scoring courtesy of the two starting forwards in the 20^th minute, when Jacob Gosselin leaped in the air to head the ball down the center of the pitch to Frank Astarita. Astarita ran onto the ball but so did Shepherd goalkeeper Jose Machado, and both players sprawled to the pitch as the ball bounced harmlessly away.
• Machado would again deny the Marauders in the 40^th minute. Ben Wilson launched a beautiful ball ahead towards target man Nathan Erb, who had some space but was quickly intercepted by Machado as he again came off his line to clear the ball away.
• The opening tally finally came in the 44^th minute via the link-up play of two freshmen. Bob Hennessey played the ball into the box for Roger Buesmaill Jr., finding his feet and allowing him to dribble hard to his left past the Shepherd defense. He smashed a left-footed shot into the top left corner of the net to give the Ville a 1-0 lead at halftime.
• The Marauders would strike again in the 62^nd minute. Hennessey would again show off his distribution skills, delivering a ball to Spencer Shortt in the right side of the box. Shortt ripped the shot across the face of goal and tucked it into the bottom left corner to make it 2-0.

POST GAME REACTION FROM HEAD COACH STEVE WIDDOWSON
• On today's performance: "At the end of the day, job done. I think we let ourselves down individually and collectively and didn't show anywhere near our quality. It's disappointing when you play down to the quality of another team. No disrespect to Shepherd, they played well today, but we allowed them to do so and did not stamp our authority on the game."

• On the contributions by young players: "We need everybody contributing and chipping in at different times. That's what was disappointing, some of the more experienced guys didn't play to a level I know they're capable of playing, so it was good that those guys stepped up. It takes everybody."

• On looking ahead to the final week of the regular season: "We got the job done today, but you can't get away with doing just enough. That can come back to bite you, usually at the worst times. We have to be significantly better by Wednesday."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Millersville out-shot Shepherd 25-7 and also held a 12-1 advantage in corner kicks.
• Roger Buesmaill Jr.'s goal was his second of the season. He also scored on Sept. 7 against Goldey-Beacom.
• Spencer Shortt's goal was his second of the season, which equals his total from the 2018 campaign. Bob Hennessey's assist was his third in 2019.
• Shortt and Ethan Woods each launched four shots in the game, tied for the team lead. Nathan Erb, Bryce Martin and Hennessey were just behind with three shots each.
• Marauders goalkeeper Darian McCauley was credited with just one save in the game.

NOTES
• The Millersville victory improves the program's all-time record versus Shepherd University to 8-2, including seven straight wins.
• The clean sheet kept against the Rams was Millersville's and goalkeeper Darian McCauley's fourth of the season. McCauley now has shut out 22 opponents in his career, two shy of the Millersville record of 24 set by Matt Langione from 2007-2010.
• The Marauders' ten overall wins equals the season total from the 2018 season. The team's eight conference win has already surpassed last season's total of seven.

UP NEXT
• The Marauders return to the pitch at Pucillo Field on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. to face East Stroudsburg University. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw after two overtime periods back on Oct. 9.