September 1: Away vs. Hartwick College
The Marywood Pacers opened their season in Oneonta, New York as they faced the Hartwick College Hawks. In the 10th minute, freshman Jack Forbes got the ball over the heads of the backline and led freshman Nolan Kozera to a score. The Hawks tried to respond but the Pacers’ defense didn’t allow anything throughout the entire match. Marywood ultimately got the shutout and the win 1-0.
A big factor in the victory was senior goalie Alex Russo. Russo had four saves and allowed no goals. Though Marywood’s defense shone, their offense finished slowly. The Pacers only accumulated three shots compared to the Hawks’ nine.
September 3: Away vs. Keystone College
The Pacers traveled to La Plume to take on the Keystone College Giants. Both teams struggled to get anything going as neither could score in the first half. The Giants’ goalie finished the half with three saves. After the break, the tie finally vanished as the Pacers’ Kiernan Wilder scored at the 63rd minute.
Not too long after, Matt Laudenslager scored for Marywood and extended the lead to two goals. The Giants tried to answer back but the Pacers defended well. Jason Tordy destroyed any hopes of a Giants’ comeback as he scored a late goal to secure the win, 3-0. The Pacers’ offense looked strong with 12 shots and seven shots at goal, while the Giants had eight shots and only one shot at goal.
September 6: Away vs. McDaniel College
The undefeated Pacers looked to continue their win streak against the Green Terror of McDaniel College. Marywood had a great chance to score in the first minute but the Green Terror would narrowly save it. McDaniel College eventually found a hole in the Marywood defense and scored in the 13th minute. This was the first goal the Pacers allowed in the season. After a few minutes, the Green Terror struck again and the Pacers were down by two goals entering halftime.
Nothing really changed after that. The Pacer offense wasn’t clicking and they struggled to get shots on goal. Marywood went scoreless in the second half and McDaniel College scored a late goal as a cherry on top. The Pacers lost 3-0, their first loss of the season.
September 9: Away vs. SUNY Delhi
The Pacers looked to bounce back against the SUNY Delhi Broncos. This was the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The Broncos had a great opportunity to score early, but Russo kept the ball out. Marywood had multiple possibilities to tie the game before half but the Broncos didn’t concede. Then in the 43rd minute, the Broncos ended the scoring drought as they took a 1-0 lead going into intermission.
Entering the second half, the Pacers needed to score to avoid suffering back to back losses. The Broncos tried to add to their lead but Russo saved two more goals and kept his team in the match. Marywood’s offense only had one shot in the whole second half and only four on the day. The Broncos scored in the 75th minute and ultimately won 2-0.
September 14: Home vs. Penn State Brandywine
Marywood entered their home opener against Penn State Brandywine Nittany Lions. The Pacers had a 2-2 record on the season and tried to snap their two-game losing streak. The Pacers had two chances to take the lead in the first half, but the Nittany Lions stopped both attempts. The Pacers entered the break with a 0-0 score.
In the 50th minute the Nittany Lions got a handball penalty and gave the Pacers’ Danny Gomez a chance to take the lead. The junior drilled the penalty kick to make the score 1-0. The Pacers rode this momentum and scored yet again, this time by sophomore Kyle Falcon. Marywood held off the Nittany Lions and won 2-0. Brandywine had only one shot on goal while Marywood had five.
September 16: Away vs. Clarks Summit University
Marywood went right back on the road to face the Defenders of Clark Summit University. In the match up, the Pacers gave away an early penalty and the Defenders capitalized. The Defenders conceded a penalty of their own and Marywood’s Gomez tied the game in the second minute. The Pacers remained aggressive and kept attacking the goal. In the 22nd minute Alex Visha’s assist to Falcon led to the team’s second goal.
After the intermission, Falcon scored yet again to make their lead 3-1. Falcon showed no signs of slowing down as he scored another goal. Gomez and Kozera assisted him on those goals. The Defenders responded with a goal of their own in the 55th minute and made their deficit only two goals. Wilder had other plans and scored, giving Marywood back their three score advantage. Clarks Summit University got a late goal to make the final score 5-3. With their offense in gear, Marywood had back-to-back wins
September 20: Home vs. University of Scranton
The Pacers returned to their home turf to take on their crosstown rivals, the University of Scranton Royals. This red hot Pacers team was looking to hand the Royals their first loss of the season. Neither team found an offensive rhythm and the match was scoreless after 45 minutes.
Once the break was over, the Royals went on a scoring run as they recorded three goals in a 22-minute span. The Pacers’ offense continued to struggle in the second half as they fell to the Royals 3-0. The Royals remained undefeated and the Pacers moved to 4-3 on the season.
September 23: Home vs. Arcadia University
Marywood played back-to-back home games and they faced the winless Arcadia University Knights. The Knights had an opportunity to score early but goalie Russo made the save. The Pacers’ had scoring chances, but the Knights were one step ahead of them. Marywood found itself in a scoreless tie leading into halftime.
Arcadia’s offense went on a scoring spree in the second half. The Knights scored two goals within a five minute period and the Pacers were left shell shocked. Arcadia had one more goal in them as they scored on a late free kick. The Pacers fell to Arcadia 3-0, giving the Knights their first win of the season.
September 27: Away vs. Hood College
The Pacers traveled to Maryland to take on the Hood College Blazers. Marywood entered the match up with a 4-4 record and they hoped to get above .500. The Pacers controlled possession for most of the first half but failed to get any quality shots on goal. Yet again, the Pacers entered the half with a 0-0 tie.
Marywood still dominated possession but was unable to make anything happen. The tie was finally shattered when the Blazers scored in the 83rd minute. With the short amount of time left, the Pacers were unable to make a final push to tie the match. The Pacers fell once again in a 1-0 loss. Marywood finished the game with 22 shots and eight shots on goal, but zero goals to show for their efforts.
September 30: Home vs. SUNY – Environmental Science and Forestry
The Pacers looked to get back on track from a three-match losing streak as they faced the SUNY ESF Mighty Oaks. The Pacers looked to junior Niko Leibkuchler as their starting goalie for today’s matchup. The Pacers started out hot as Kozera put his team on the board in the 6th minute.
The Pacers extended their lead in the 55th minute when Gomez found the net. The scoring continued as freshman Onious George scored his first career goal just a few minutes later. Dawson Meckes joined in on the party when he scored to give Marywood the win, 4-0. Leibkuchler finished his first start of the year with a sterling showing of zero goals allowed and five saves.
For the month:
Marywood finished September with a record of 5-5. Falcon led the Pacers in scoring with four total goals, with three of those coming against Clark Summit University. Russo was the main goal keeper as he had 15 saves in the nine games he started.
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