Box Score

SLIPPERY ROCK – Junior forward Nemanja Nikolic scored his first two career goals in the first half and East Stroudsburg University held off Slippery Rock, 2-1, for its first PSAC men's soccer win of the season on Saturday afternoon in western Pennsylvania.

Nikolic struck at the 6:56 and 20:07 marks of the contest with assists coming from junior back Steve Sollecito and sophomore midfielder Matthew Geidner.

Chris Hall answered for Slippery Rock just under nine minutes later, but score remained 2-1 in favor of the Warriors for the final 60 minutes to give head coach Rob Berkowitz his first PSAC victory as a men's soccer coach. Berkowitz led ESU's women's team to three PSAC tournament appearances and an NCAA Tournament in his first four seasons and continues to coach the women's team this fall.

Freshman Sean Murphy earned his first career victory with two saves in goal for the Warriors (2-6-1, 1-3-1), who ended a three-game losing streak against the Rock. ESU is 22-6 in the all-time series, including a 4-1 record in five meetings in the PSAC Tournament from 1973 to 1992.

Timothy White had three saves for Slippery Rock (3-5, 2-4) in a meeting between two PSAC semifinalists a year ago. ESU won its semifinal game over Millersville before falling penalty kicks to Shippensburg, which knocked the Rock out of the tournament.

The Warriors host Mercyhurst, ranked No. 4 nationally, on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Eiler-Martin Stadium in the sixth of their nine games against the PSAC.