EAST STROUDSBURG – The East Stroudsburg University men's soccer team topped Shepherd by a 4-0 margin in the regular season finale on Saturday to clinch a spot in the PSAC Tournament.
The Warriors will head to the conference playoffs as the No. 3 seed, and will face either Millersville or West Chester in the opening round on Tuesday, November 12.
Prior to Saturday's game, ESU honored
Ahmad Awadalla,
Sergio Bortolon,
Erik Cardoso,
Duarte Ferreira,
Javaughn Hussett,
Teun Jacobs,
Mateo Laredo-Fernandez,
Riley Lougee,
Michael Tolley,
Marcus Torgersson,
Matthew West,
Irvin Zuzic with a ceremony as part of Senior Day, recognizing their contributions made to both the men's soccer program and the University throughout their time at ESU.
The Warriors jumped on top early on
Oliver Lundberg's second goal of the season. Torgersson sent in a cross from the far left side to the middle of the box where Lundberg one-timed it past Shepherd goalie Jose Orellana to give ESU a 1-0 advantage just 1:32 into play.
ESU added to its lead in the 21
st minute as
Sergio Bortolon found the back of the net for his third goal of the year. Torgersson set up the goal once again as he hit Bortolon in the box, where the senior turned towards goal and fired for the score to make it 2-0 Warriors.
Minutes before the halftime break,
Hubert Herrera carried the ball into the offensive end and rifled a shot from around 20 yards out that narrowly snuck in the upper right corner. The goal, which was Herrera's second of the season, pushed the lead to 3-0.
The Warriors outshot Shepherd 10-1 in the opening half as they carried a 3-0 advantage into the break. ESU held the Rams without a shot until just under nine minutes remained in the half.
ESU came out of the break with a quick goal, as Lundberg netted his second of the game and third of the season just 53 seconds into the second half. Torgersson sent a low cross to the middle and Lunderberg finished it off to pad the ESU lead to 4-0.
The Warrior defense remained strong in the second half, holding Shepherd to just a pair of shots in the frame as they closed out the 4-0 victory to clinch a berth in the PSAC Tournament.
ESU outshot Shepherd 18-3 overall and held the Rams without a shot on goal for the entirety of the match.
ESU will learn its opponent for the opening round game of the PSAC Tournament on Saturday evening after the conclusion of the Millersville at Bloomsburg game.