Shippensburg University’s men’s soccer team lost its winning streak as they fell to Millersville in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup on Wednesday at David See Field 3-1. 

On Saturday, the team tied 1-1 with Slippery Rock in their first road game of the season.

On Wednesday, Millersville started out strong and Shippensburg struggled to keep up. Five minutes into the game, the Marauders had the first free kick but did not score. 

Shippensburg had its first chance after 8 minutes, but the shot by junior Victor Vottero went directly to the goalkeeper. A minute later, Shippensburg´s goalkeeper, freshman Ryan Krumenacker, caught a cross ball from Millersville, with a Marauders player waiting to put the ball into the net.

Sophomore forward Ethan Paulukow chased behind the ball and forced the Millersville goalkeeper to run out his goal to pick up the ball 17 minutes into the game. When the goalkeeper picked the ball up, it was still outside the box, so the Raiders earned a free kick right outside the box line in a central position. The free kick then hit the Millersville players standing in the defensive wall.

Just 1 minute later, Millersville’s Connor Fiadino benefited from a miscommunication in Shippensburg´s defense. Fiadino raced onto the ball, played it around Krumenacker with one touch and scored into the empty net.

Within the next moments, the Raiders scored an offsides goal, and Millersville had another good chance, but the cross-laid ball did not reach any Millersville players. 

In the following, Millersville’s goal scorer Fiadino almost benefited from another miscommunication in the Raiders´ defense, but this time, Krumenacker reached the ball first.

Junior midfielder Spencer Siverling received a yellow card in the 22nd minute of the game for pulling the jersey of a Millersville player. The following free kick was in the Marauders’ offensive half, but the ball did not end up in the net. 

In the last 10 minutes of the first half, Shippensburg showed some improvements and had a few good actions in front of the goal. The score at half time was 1-0 for Millersville.

Two minutes into the second half, freshman forward Cam Henry won the ball of a Millersville defender, but his shot from right outside the box got deflected.

Junior midfielder Mason Stokes fouled a Millersville player at the corner of the box, so the referee called a penalty kick for Millersville with 37 minutes to go in the game. Millersville’s Jake Altimore notched the penalty, while Krumenacker dove to the opposite side of the goal, to give Millersville a 2-0 lead.

Just two minutes later, Millersville scored the 3-0, as the Marauders combined through Shippensburg´s box without being vigorously attacked by the Shippensburg defense. Bob Hennessey made the shot after being assisted by Mike Kreider.

In the following, Krumenacker made a few saves and Shippensburg´s defense had a few good tackles, before the Raiders also got on the scoreboard.

Senior midfielder Graham George played a long cross ball that was touched by a Millersville player so that Millersville’s goalkeeper could not reach it.

After the game that was lost 3-1, Shippensburg´s head coach Jeremy Spering said that his team is still growing and lost to a very complete team in Millersville, but his team will be fine if they clean some things up.

“We got to tidy some stuff up and we are going to be more successful if we do it,” Spering said. “We´ll be fine.”

When asked for the miscommunication between goalkeeper and defense before the first goal and at other points in the game, Spering defended Krumenacker. Krumenacker is still a freshman, and it still is a learning experience for him, Spering said.

For the future, Spering wanted to clean up how the team moves as a group and to get the lines more connected. 

On Saturday, SU travelled to take on Slippery Rock in an away game. The Raiders fought back to get a 1-1 draw after trailing for most of the game and playing with only 10 men since the 32nd minute.

Slippery Rock took the lead early in the game, with a goal by Arturo Pla Hernandis in the 11th minute. 

With 13 minutes to go in the first half, Henry received a red card and left Shippensburg with only 10 men on the field.

Junior Asthon Davies scored the 1-1 in the 69th minute with an Olimpico, a goal scored directly from a corner. Davies put the ball in right behind the near post, and Slippery Rock´s goalkeeper did not react quick enough to keep the ball out of the net.

Junior Cody Willoughby made his comeback to the field and had six saves. SU had 10 shots throughout the game, five of which were on target.

The Raiders will now travel to take on West Chester and Bloomsburg on the road in PSAC Eastern Division matchups on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. and on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

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