PSAC Tournament Page  |  ESU 2018 Statistics

EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University, the defending PSAC men's soccer champions, will travel to Shippensburg on Tuesday afternoon to begin this year's conference tournament.

The Warriors (9-7, 6-5 PSAC) enter the postseason as the No. 5 seed, while the Raiders (10-3-3, 6-2-3 PSAC) are seeded fourth in the six-team tournament. Tuesday's contest is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

The winner earns a matchup with top-seeded West Chester in the semifinals on Friday. The Golden Rams will host the men's soccer championship weekend for a second-straight year after finishing the regular season with a record of 11-2-4 (7-1-3 PSAC).

ESU was edged 1-0 by Shippensburg in the team's regular season meeting at Eiler-Martin Stadium on Sept. 26. Cole Kropnick, whose 11 goals are tied with Gannon's Sam Thornton for the most among PSAC players this fall, provided the lone tally in the 68th minute. The Warriors fell despite a 19-8 advantage in shots, including a 13-3 disparity in the second half.

That contest was the fifth-straight one-goal game between the sides, with the previous four contests having gone to overtime. The Warriors' 4-3 double-overtime win at Shippensburg on Sept. 27 last season began an 11-1-1 stretch that culminated with a 1-0 win over Gannon in the PSAC title game.

Senior Eddy Enowbi has been ESU's top goal-scoring threat for a second year in a row. The 2017 first team All-PSAC and All-Region performer is tied for fourth in the conference with 21 points (8 G, 5 A), already one ahead of his 20-point total from last season. Enowbi, who also leads the conference with 68 shots, enters with 10 points (3 G, 4 A) in ESU's last six contests.

Graduate student Jordon Ellison and junior Irvin Zuzic have also been major contributors to the Warrior attack. Both have matching four-goal, eight-assist stat lines, with those eight helpers tied with Seton Hill's Tormod Simonsen for the conference lead.

Zuzic became the first Warrior in 15 years to record four assists in a game during a 6-2 win over Chestnut Hill in September; he has reached double-digit points in each of his first three collegiate seasons. Ellison, a Stroudsburg High School graduate, has made an immediate impact in his first year with the program after previously playing at DI Fairleigh Dickinson and DII Wilmington. He has points in 9 of 15 appearances on the year.

Other offensive contributors include senior Jo Panuccio (5 G, 4 A), junior Marcus Torgersson (4 G, 2 A), graduate student Nico Gericke (2 G, 4 A) and senior Brandon Levano (2 G, 3 A). Panuccio and Levano were each second team All-PSAC performers in 2017.

Gericke, junior Mateo Laredo-Fernandez (3 G) and junior Erik Cardoso have each started all 16 games on the ESU backline, with sophomores Nils Bjorquist and Oliver Lundberg sharing time at the other defensive position.

Senior Will Boerema, the 2017 PSAC tournament MVP, has a 1.48 goals-against average across his 14 starts in goal. Boerema, who added second team All-PSAC and third team All-Region accolades a year ago, enters the postseason with 16 career solo shutouts, including four this season.

The Warriors will be looking to halt a three-game losing streak, including a 3-2 overtime setback at Mercyhurst in the regular season finale on Saturday. Shippensburg is 1-1-3 in its past five contests after a stretch of five-straight victories from Sept. 23 – Oct. 6.

This will be the first postseason meeting between the teams since Shippensburg advanced 3-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the 2010 PSAC championship game. ESU has a 45-14-3 lifetime edge in the series; the Raiders are 6-2-2 in the last 10 matchups dating back to the 2010 regular season.