GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (10-3-2, 4-1-2 PSAC West) at CALIFORNIA (PA) VULCANS (3-9-1, 1-6-0 PSAC West)
DATE/TIME: Saturday, October 22, 2022 | 2:30 p.m.
STADIUM/LOCATION: Phillipsburg Soccer Facility l California, Pa.
LIVE STATS
 
 
THE GANNON-CALIFORNIA (PA) SERIES
Gannon leads 20-7-0
Last Meeting: Oct. 1, 2022 – Gannon 7, Cal (Pa.) 1 | RECAP
Gannon celebrated Homecoming with an impressive win at McConnell Family Stadium. Sergio Del Castillo (Madrid, Spain) scored five goals for the second time in the season. Gannon led by just a 2-1 margin at the half but then exploded for five goals in the second half. The Golden Knights have now won four matches in a row against the Vulcans and eight of the last nine in a series that first began in 1989.

 
ERIE, Pa. – The 2022 regular season is winding down and the Gannon men's soccer team can clinch a berth in the PSAC Tournament with a win on Saturday afternoon at California (Pa.).

The Golden Knights (10-3-2, 4-1-2 PSAC West) have hit a bit of a bump in the road after running off six straight wins, but the competition may have something to do with that. Gannon saw that winning streak snapped via a 4-0 loss to a Mercyhurst squad that has climbed to second in Division II in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25. After edging Slippery Rock 1-0, Gannon played to a 1-1 tie at Seton Hill in a battle for second in the PSAC West.

Gannon outscored the opponents 37-5 during the six-game winning streak, but has managed just two goals in the three games since, both by Sergio Del Castillo (Madrid, Spain). The Golden Knights are still second in the PSAC and sixth in Division II with 3.27 goals per match. Del Castillo continues to lead the country in goals (20) and points scored (44).

The top three teams in each division will qualify for the PSAC Tournament. Mercyhurst clinched a spot with a 6-0 win over Seton Hill on Wednesday. Gannon can punch its ticket with a win on Saturday at Cal in a match that gets underway at 2:30 p.m. at the Phillipsburg Soccer Facility. The Golden Knights are playing the middle game of a three-game road trip.

Last Time Out
Gannon and Seton Hill battled to a 1-1 tie in Greensburg, Pa. last Saturday with second place in the PSAC West on the line. The Golden Knights got on the board first on Sergio Del Castillo's (Madrid, Spain) 20th goal of the season less than four minutes into the match. Seton Hill would tie the contest at the 31:48 mark on a bit of a fluky goal as goalkeeper Samuel Alarcon (Madrid, Spain/Colegio el Valle II) had his hands on a crossing pass but did not secure it cleanly and it just fell of the goal line. Neither team would score the rest of the way.

California (Pa.) suffered its third straight loss on Wednesday, and the second by shutout, with a 5-0 loss at Slippery Rock. The Rock led just 1-0 at the half but blew the contest open with three goals in the final 20 minutes.

The Playoff Picture
The regular season is winding down with just three games remaining, including a second showdown with crosstown rival Mercyhurst on Wednesday, October 26. The top three teams in each division qualify for the PSAC Tournament. Mercyhurst has clinched a spot in the playoff field after a 6-0 win over Seton Hill on Wednesday, with the Lakers now with 21 points. Gannon and Seton Hill are tied for second with 14 points, but the Golden Knights have three games remaining while Seton Hill only has two. Gannon can clinch a spot in the postseason with a win at California (Pa.) on Saturday. They wrap up the regular season with a home match vs. Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday, October 29. The PSAC Tournament gets underway on Tuesday, November 1 with the 2022 champion crowned on Sunday, November 6. The NCAA released its first set of regional rankings on Wednesday, but the Golden Knights were not in the listing. The Super Region 1 field will include 10 teams, with champions from the PSAC, CACC, ECC, MEC, and NE-10 joined by five at-large teams.
 
Del Castillo Continues to Lead in Division II in Scoring
Senior midfielder Sergio Del Castillo (Madrid, Spain) remains the Division II leader in both goals (20) and points scored (44) after scoring the lone goals against both Slippery Rock and Seton Hill. Del Castillo vaulted into the lead with 15 goals in a span of six matches, with three hat tricks during that period. It began with three goals in a 6-2 win over Wheeling, followed by five goals in a 12-1 victory at D'Youville. To prove that was no fluke he scored five goals in a 7-1 victory over California (Pa.) in this year's first meeting. Del Castillo's 20 goals rank sixth in a season, and he has also climbed into sixth place in career goals with 49 and career points with 114.

Golden Knights to Watch
Senior midfielder Sergio Del Castillo (Madrid, Spain) (Madrid, Spain) is the team's leading scorer with 20 goals and four assists for 44 points (SEE ABOVE). Del Castillo earned plenty of postseason accolades, culminated by a spot on the United Soccer Coaches All-American Third Team. An outstanding student, he also earned CoSIDA and United Soccer Coaches Academic All-American honors. he has twice been named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week this year and was named the United Soccer Coaches Division II Men's Soccer Player of the Week once.

Benjamin Querling, a junior forward, is second on the team in goals with six, adding an assist for 13 points. Freshman midfielder Sverre Orten (Orsta, Norway/Aalesund vgs) has four goals and a team-leading six assists to rank second on the team with 14 points. Pau Ferrer (Valencia, Spain/ISES Isabel de Villena), another freshman, has three goals and five assists for 11 points. Freshman Samuel Alarcon (Madrid, Spain/Colegio el Valle II) has taken over in goal over the last six matches and owns a 1.17 GAA.
 
Scouting California (Pa.)
California (Pa.) comes into Saturday's match with losses in its last three contests, the last two by shutout. The Vulcans are 3-9-1 overall and 1-6-0 in the PSAC West. For the season Cal has been outscored 34-9 and shut out six times. Kobe Norfleet is the only player with more than one goal. The junior midfielder has two goals and two assists for a team-leading six points.

Next for the Golden Knights
Gannon concludes its three-game road trip on Wednesday, October 25 looking to earn a split of the regular season series with Mercyhurst. The Lakers have now climbed to second in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II Top 25.