Penn State New Kensington men’s soccer optimistic entering postseason
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After a regular season full of positive outcomes for the Penn State New Kensington men’s soccer team, the Lions turn their attention to a quest for gold this week at the Penn State University Athletic Conference tournament.
PSNK (11-4 overall) finished conference play 8-2 and will be the No. 3 seed for the upcoming playoffs that begin Wednesday.
The Lions will host No. 6 Penn State Mont Alto in the single-elimination format. A win there would put PSNK in the semifinals Saturday against No. 2 Penn State Lehigh Valley.
The championship match is at 4 p.m. Sunday at Penn State’s main campus.
“I think the guys have hit their stride and are in a good spot heading into the playoffs,” Lions coach Mark Duffield said.
Duffield said a 6-2 loss to Penn State Greater Allegheny on Sept. 21 was a turning point in the conference schedule.
The Lions proceeded to reel off six conference wins in a row to put themselves near the top of the PSUAC standings.
“That loss worked the lads up a little bit,” Duffield said. “We saw a couple of things in our game we needed to work on, and they worked hard and put up a pretty good run.”
PSNK ran into a buzzsaw Saturday against conference leader Penn State Brandywine, which handed the Lions their second conference setback.
But Duffield feels that his team is in a good spot to make its mark in the postseason.
“We have (Kiski Area graduate) Nolan (Johngarlo) and (Penn-Trafford grad) Brady (Braun) as our two seniors who have been here since I started, and there are a lot of younger lads who have been making an impact throughout the season,” Duffield said.
Duffield said first-year senior Ben Edwards, a midfielder who played at Burrell, also has been a strong contributor.
“When the season started, in the first game, only two lads on the team had ever played a collegiate game,” Duffield said. “We knew we had the talent, but we knew it was going to take a little bit of time to get everyone together and playing well.”
Johngarlo said he likes the way the players on the team have jelled after coming from different high schools throughout the area. Ten team members are on the team from Alle-Kiski Valley schools, including Kiski Area, Valley, Burrell, Highlands and Springdale.
“We all were pretty skillful players at our high schools, and we all grew up playing against each other, so we knew what each of us had when we came into the season,” Johngarlo said.
“Working together and going for the same goals each day, it’s been pretty nice. I think we are playing pretty well, and we have a great shot in the playoffs. Everyone is hungry to win more games. We just have to play the way we know we can.”
Jacob Guerrini, a standout scorer at Burrell, has made waves in his freshman season with the Lions. In 15 games, Guerrini has a team-best 20 goals to go along with six assists. He has seven multi-goal games with a season-best four coming in a 10-5 win over Villa Maria on Sept. 11.
“I didn’t expect to be that successful that fast since I was a new kid on the team,” he said. “With each game and each time I scored a goal, I gained more confidence. I also look to find open teammates. I just want to do whatever I can to help the team win.”
Five players have at least seven goals. Guerrini said he knew the offense would have a number of scoring weapons on display.
“We all trust each other to get the job done, whether it’s scoring goals or playing good defense,” Guerrini said.
“It’s taken a total team effort to get to where we are.”
Others on the team from Alle-Kiski Valley schools include junior Sam Barca (Valley, defense); sophomores Shane Stefanik (Highlands, defense) and Zack Conte (Springdale, midfield); and freshmen Ryan Wurzer (Burrell, defense), Elliott Weigand (Apollo-Ridge, midfield), Zack Rudolf (Springdale, defense) and Justin Potts (Burrell, midfield).
Braun has scored seven goals for the Lions.
“When we play as a unit and play as one, we’re honestly the best team I’ve played on,” Braun said.