by Matt Koll
After an exciting quarterfinal round, the PAC men’s soccer semifinals are here. Four teams remain as the bracket tightens up and the stakes get higher.
The top four seeds have advanced and defending champs are eyeing up a repeat. Will they be knocked off the throne? Let’s look at the field…
#1 GENEVA GOLDEN TORNADOES (10-4-4, 7-0-3 PAC)
The Golden Tornadoes earned the top seed after finishing the regular season having not lost a single conference game in regulation. At one point, they ripped off an impressive seven conference wins in a row. It’s a feat that head coach Gary Dunda is proud of, but isn’t confusing for what this team ultimately has in its sights. “The quality of teams, players, and coaches has greatly increased over the past years. This means that every team in the PAC is good, and each game is a 90-minute struggle,” Dunda said. “Going through the PAC schedule without a loss is a nice accomplishment, but that is not our goal. We wanted to improve game to game and week to week, and we felt that by doing that we would put ourselves in a good place in the postseason tournament.”
Geneva brings a stifling defense, ranking 2nd in the conference in goals against average. Senior Carnel Kerr leads them offensively, finishing the regular season 9th in the conference in shots on goal and tied for second in the conference in game-winning goals with three. They finished out the regular season with three ties, including one at home against their semifinal opponent Waynesburg (3-3) in the final game before the postseason. Geneva outshot Waynesburg 27-12 that day but gave up all three goals in the 2nd half.
Waynesburg is a very good team that is well coached. Our game last week had massive momentum swings with each team scoring three goals. We learned a lot and hope to apply those lessons [Wednesday] night at Reeves Field.” Interestingly, while the Yellow Jackets were 7-1-1 at home this season, they were just 3-5-1 on the road.Next game: Wednesday 7 pm vs. #4 Waynesburg
#2 FRANCISCAN BARONS (11-4-3, 6-1-3 PAC)
This team isn’t the same one that won the title last season, but that doesn’t mean they’re ready to relinquish the title just yet. The Barons bring the highest-powered offense into the PAC Tournament, averaging almost three goals per game during the regular season. But, don’t overlook their defense. Franciscan only allowed two goals in their final four games, including three shutouts. And as head coach Brent Ridenour says, they’ve also got a couple of things going for them…a season’s worth of gelling together and health. “In 2022, we were a more experienced group. This team has really been working to find its identity throughout the season. It has been a really fun group to watch grow and get better,” said Ridenour. “We’ve had to deal with a lot of illness and injury this season so having everyone healthy at this time of the year is exciting for us because I do not think we have played many games this season at full strength.”
Sophomore Lucas Cross leads the way in shots on goal for this team (2nd in PAC) that is tops in the conference in shots. He also leads the PAC in goals with 14 and finished as the best point scorer with 31 along the way. It’s all Barons atop the leaderboard in assists as well, as Ryan Miller ranks first with seven, followed by junior teammates Joseph St. George and Jonathan Schriner right behind him with six. Earlier this season, Grove City provided a thorn in their side by beating them rather handily, 3-1, with all three goals coming in the first half. But it provided an important learning experience for this team.
Grove City is a great team and they definitely took it to us earlier in the season. After that game we discussed things we did well and things we really needed to work on and I think we have done that,” said Ridenour. “I think that loss gave our younger players a great look into what the PAC is all about and helped them prepare for the rest of our regular season.”
Franciscan looks to exact revenge with the season on the line Wednesday night.
Next game: Wednesday at 7 pm vs. #3 Grove City
#3 GROVE CITY WOLVERINES (8-5-5, 6-3-1 PAC)
The Wolverines survived a tight one against Allegheny in the quarterfinal round. They almost needed two overtimes to put the Gators away, but junior Hunter Hardin scored after John-Luc Harbour set him up for the game-winning goal with 1:55 left in overtime.
The win not only kept their season alive but was their fourth straight dating back to the regular season and is a winning streak that came after three consecutive losses in PAC play before it.“Prior to the 3 game winning streak we had a rough patch. We were creating chances but couldn’t score,” said head coach Mike Dreves. “The team kept at it, kept working. We refocused on a few key areas and the guys were able to start putting away those chances. We hope we have some momentum after scoring a fair amount of goals recently.” Dreves isn’t wrong about scoring more goals recently. The Wolverine buried 15 goals in their final three regular season game, including three against #4 Waynesburg. In their first matchup with Franciscan, Grove City shot out to a 3-0 lead in the first half and never looked back, thanks in large part to their defense and sophomore goalkeeper Teddy Almeter.
But that’s been Grove City’s formula for success all season, as their defense was the PAC’s best allowing under one goal per game (0.89) and Almeter finished with the best goals against average and save percentage. “We try to keep the ball as much as we can and that in itself is a good form of defense. We are currently starting four seniors across the backline which is a big help as well.”
It seems like the Wolverines are riding a wave of momentum heading into this rematch, which is right where they want to be. Next game: Wednesday at 7 pm @ #2 Franciscan
#4 WAYNESBURG YELLOW JACKETS (10-6-2, 5-3-2 PAC) Freshman Zachary Johnson and freshman Vincent Palmieri made the magic happen to begin the quarterfinal matchup against Chatham, as Palmieri set up Johnson for two goals within the first 26 minutes of action en route to the 4-1 victory.
Waynesburg’s offense was one of the conference’s best in the regular season, finishing as one of only two teams to average over a goal per game this season (2.39). Johnson certainly had a lot to do with that, finishing third in goals with 12, third in points with 24 and first in game-winning goals with five. But senior Tyler Mohrbacher cracked the PAC Top 10 in goals as well with six and junior Seth Massotti finished tied for second in assists with six.
The Yellow Jackets just saw this Geneva team in the regular season finale in which Waynesburg scored three goals in the second half and two in the final seven minutes while giving up the game tying goal on a penalty kick with just over one minute left in regulation. At the very least, they proved that this game could go either way on Wednesday.
Next game: Wednesday 7 pm @ #1 Geneva
