That red card will carry a one-game suspension, which causes Langione to miss the first NCAA playoff game, a huge loss for Millersville.  Speaking of playoffs; the Marauders start the Division II playoffs Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. as the Atlantic Region No. 2 seed, and will play third seed Charleston.  The No. 1 and No. 4 teams are Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst respectively.  Slippery Rock will host the four teams over the weekend.

“Every loss hurts,” said freshman defender and Elco graduate Adam Keller, “This loss was especially tough because we worked all season for that, but now we get a second chance to see Slippery Rock in the NCAAs again at their place if we both win and there is no doubt that the team will be ready.

Last week the Marauders defeated Bloomsburg in front of 862 fans, 2-0 with goals from Kyle Loughlin and Pat Baffuto. Langione made two saves for his 17th win of the season, and it was also the team’s 13th shut-out of the season.  Bloomsburg played the Marauders extremely tough in the first half.  Millersville had different plans for the second half as Loughlin’s goal came 53 seconds into the half, with an assist to Jeremy Yoder.

Yoder found the ball as it was making its way out of bounds after a corner kick by freshman Adam Keller.  Yoder then made a sliding attempt to save the ball, and in that process sent a pass across the goal mouth to Loughlin’s foot to put it in the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.  The second goal came about 12 minutes later as Pat Baffuto scored his sixth goal of the season after a Dan Prian cross.  The back four again came up huge in assisting the team to a school record 13th shutout.

“Being a starting freshman at the beginning of the year was a little stressful,” Keller said,  “I have Thomas Bargmann, John Claffey, and Jeremy Yoder; 3 of the best defenders next to me who have had my back all season.”

The PSAC Championship was again heartbreaking for the Marauders. This time there was a 2-1 defeat as Slippery Rock scored the first two goals, with Millersville answering in the 61st minute. The loss proved tough to the Marauders as they lost goalkeeper Langione to a red-card and subsequential one-game suspension to open the playoffs.

The first goal came off a ball misplayed by Langione that allowed Slippery Rock’s Jeremy Deighton to score on a header at the 30 minute mark. Just three minutes later Langione touched a ball, barely outside of his own 18.  The officials deemed it intentional, giving Langione a red card on a call that changed the whole complexion of the game as Millersville played down a man the rest of the game. That card saw back-up keeper Kurt Pleier enter the game after seeing only 64 minutes of action during the season.

“I was very close to Matt before the foul, and it was definitely unintentional and unfortunate that the ball hit his arm,” said Keller, “A straight red is a consequence for being the last man back and committing an extremely hard foul.  It was unintentional and undeserving.”

Pleier played a solid game making four saves, even though a 51st minute goal by Iain Langstone made it a 2-0 game.  Millersville cut the deficit in half with a Loughlin unassisted goal in the 61st minute.  Millersville continued to control play, down a man, and nearly made the comeback complete if it weren’t  for Rock goalkeeper Greg Blum, who made two key saves to maintain the lead.

“It’s always tough to lose your starting goalie, especially when they are as good as Matt,  but, Kurt is a solid goalie who works hard every practice and our team has complete confidence in all our players,” Keller said. “Kurt’s added an extra level of attack to our offense with his long drop kicks and goal kicks.”

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The Men's soccer team blasts a gola in a recent game against Bloomsberg. The Marauders won the match 2-0.

The Marauder Men’s soccer team had a very successful 2008 campaign, going 18-3-1 and reached the Quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Men’s Tournament where they tied Northern Kentucky 1-1 but eventually lost in Penalty Kick’s 5-4.

In 2008, Millersville ranked 12th in NCAA Division II in average attendance totaling 4,943 fans over 14 home games, an average of about 353 fans per game.

Last season, Millersville also went 10-0-0 in the PSAC East, outscoring their opponents 34-6 in those contests.

Two games proved hard to swallow for Millersville players, coaches, and student supporters alike.  The first being the PSAC Championship loss to the California University of Pennsylvania Vulcans.

The Marauders were defeated 3-2 on a goal by Cal’s Justin Taucher with just under 12 minutes to play.

The loss denied Millersville’s first ever PSAC title, and ended a nine-game winning streak that saw Millersville outscore opponents 25-7.

The second loss that will serve as motivation going into the season was the NCAA Division II Quarterfinals penalty-kick loss to Northern Kentucky.

It looked as if things were going Millersville’s way when sophomore midfielder Shane Seabrook tied the game at one with 5:57 remaining.

Sophomore goalkeeper Matt Langione’s diving fingertip save with about three minutes to play kept fans on their toes with hopes held high.

Then, with 28 seconds left in the contest senior Ryan Kiley nearly converted a shot into an empty Northern Kentucky net when one of their defenders seemingly came out of nowhere to clear the ball just before it went over the line.

The Marauders return 19 players from last year’s team and are looking toward a PSAC Championship and a further march into the NCAA Tournament.

Millersville lost forward Sean McLaughlin, midfielder Ryan Kiley and defenseman Neil Peterson, and Matthew Procopio to graduation.
“[To be successful] we’re going to have to have [Kyle] Loughliin and [Dan] Prian fill Sean McLaughlin’s shoes,” junior defender Kevin?Hennessey said.  “They’ve done it so far.”

With the experience coming back, expect bigger and better things from the number three ranked Marauders.

The 2009 season started with a 4-3 home victory over Philadelphia University.

Sophomore Pat Baffuto registered two goals for the Marauders while junior Matt Wilson and freshman Adam Keller netted the other pair of goals.

The second game of 2009 was a PSAC East battle with East Stroudsburg University which saw senior Anthony Pagnotti score the lone goal of the 1-0 win at ESU.

This past Saturday, the Marauders defeated Bloomsburg, in front of a crowd of 800 at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium, 2-0.

Junior Kyle Loughlin and sophomore substitution Aaron Roland scored the goals for the Marauders.

This week the Marauders take a trip to West Chester for a PSAC East game against West Chester, and come home on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. game against Molloy College.

“We just need the defense to continue to play solid,” Hennessey said.  “We have a good string of shutouts going that we would like to continue which will greatly assist our ranking down the road.”

Kyle Loughlin (1 goal, 3 assists for 4 points) leads the team in points. Baffuto (2 goals and 4 points), Roland, Wilson, senior Anthony Pagnotti, and freshman Adam Keller (1 goal and 2 points each) all have made their contributions felt thus far for Millersville.

2008 was a season where the Marauders exceeded all expectations and not only won the PSAC East, but reached the program’s first ever PSAC Championship Game and qualified for the NCAA tournament.

Although the accomplishments of last season’s remarkable run are not to be downplayed or overlooked, this year’s Marauder team surely would like to have its own identity.

In search of their own identity this Marauder team also wants to make sure they do not get too full of themselves because of their national ranking.

The team realizes that while it is most definitely a bonus to recognized on the national scale, it does not mean that comes without responsibility.

“Coach Widdowson has made sure our heads are grounded,” Hennessey said.  “He lets us know that the rankings don’t mean anything until the end of the season.”

While the expectations are high, the team deserves high praise for their hard work so far.  It should be a great season for the Marauder men’s soccer team

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