Game Preview: @ Mount Aloysius
McKeesport, Pa – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Soccer team kicks off their season on Thursday September 7th 2017 as they travel to Cresson, PA to battle Mt. Aloysius in game one of the 2017/18 season.
It has been quite a while since the two teams have squared off dating all the way back to the 2013/14 season when Mount Aloysius took the first game of the year that season from Penn State Greater Allegheny by the score of 7-0. They scored three goals in the first and followed that up with an impressive four goals in the second half to sink the Lions on that day. However, a lot has changed for both teams since then as they have two completely different looking teams with no returning players from that match-up.
All-time since that 2013/14 season that is the only match-up between these two teams with Mt. Aloysius leading the all-time series with a record of 1-0. Thursday’s contest will not count as a conference game for either team as Penn State Greater Allegheny will get its first real look at the new talent they have here in 2017/18.
Last season, the PSUGA Soccer team finished with a record of 6-5-2 and reached their third straight Penn State University Athletic Conference playoff game where they fell to Penn State New Kensington 4-2. Penn State Greater Allegheny would get on the board first but Penn State New Kensington took the lead not long after and ran with it for the rest of the match. In that contest, Marin Marina (Pittsburgh, Pa/Baldwin) and Belmo Nurkic (Pittsburgh, Pa/Baldwin) each scored a goal in the contest and Nurkic lead the team in shots with three on net.
The PSUGA Soccer team is returning seven players from last years squad including four seniors. They have a new young goalie in Colin Bucsok (Pittsburgh, Pa/Thomas Jefferson) who is looking to prove his worth in the net and three of their four starters from last year’s team return for the 2017/18 season in Marina, Nurkic, and Nick Andrews (Penn Hills, Pa/Serra Catholic).
The Soccer team plays their first four contests on the road this season as they are set to face Mt. Aloysisus, Penn State Mont Alto, Penn State York, and Westmoreland County CC before playing their first home match on September 24th when they face off against Penn State Schuylkill at 3 p.m.