Box Score

ERIE – Junior forward Nemanja Nikolic scored twice in a span of seven minutes early in the second half and East Stroudsburg University held off Gannon for a 2-1 victory and its third straight PSAC men's soccer win on Saturday afternoon.

Nikolic scored his fourth and fifth goals in the season, coming in the 55th minute on an assist from junior back Garrison Draper and the 62nd minute with an assist from sophomore back Dominick Morizio, as the Warriors backed up their 3-1 win over No. 12 Mercyhurst on Wednesday with another key conference victory.

Freshman goalkeeper Sean Murphy had six saves and surrendered only a penalty kick by Sean Washek in the 77th minute. Jason Barbarino had two saves for Gannon (5-7-1, 1-4), which had a slim 17-16 advantage in shots.

ESU (4-6-1, 3-3-1) has won three straight – 2-1 at Slippery Rock, 3-1 vs. Mercyhurst and 2-1 at Gannon – after a 1-6-1 start to suddenly put itself in the middle of the PSAC Tournament framework with two games remaining in its first season under head coach Rob Berkowitz, who has also maintained his responsibilities as the fifth-year head coach of the women's team. Nikolic has scored five of ESU's seven goals in the last three games.

The Warriors, last year's runner-up, have six games left in the regular season and just two against PSAC foes – a home game vs. defending PSAC champion Shippensburg on Oct. 18 and the season finale at Bloomsburg on Oct. 29.

They kick off a five-game homestand next Wednesday with a 6 p.m. start against Queens (N.Y.).