James Pool, Tinashe Katsande and Rafa Hyde
Bryce Dolak

Men's Soccer Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

High-Scoring Golden Knights Play at Seton Hill on Saturday

No. 7 GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (14-0-2, 7-0-1 PSAC West) at SETON HILL GRIFFINS (4-10-1, 3-4-1 PSAC West)
DATE/TIME: Saturday, October 28, 2023 | 3:30 p.m.
STADIUM/LOCATION: Dick's Sporting Goods Field l Greensburg, Pa.
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THE GANNON-SETON HILL SERIES
Gannon leads 15-2-5
Gannon has dominated the series with Seton Hill of late to build a 15-2-5 advantage in the all-time series, although the games have been tight. The Golden Knights are 9-0-3 in the last 12 meetings with the Griffins, with two of the ties coming last year. The two regular season meetings resulted in 2-2 and 1-1 ties before Gannon edged the Griffins 4-3 in the PSAC Quarterfinals in 2022. The Golden Knights claimed a 3-0 decision over the Griffins three weeks ago.

Last Meeting: Oct. 7, 2023 – at Gannon 3, Seton Hill 0 | RECAP
Lennox Crews (Offenbach, Germany/Leibnizschule) gave Gannon a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 23rd minute, but the score remained that way until 20 minutes had expired in the second half. Pau Ferrer (Valencia, Spain/ISES Isabel de Villena) extended the lead at 2-0 at 65:36 on a goal assisted by Sverre Orten (Orsta, Norway/Aalesund vgs), and Tinashe Katsande (Norwich, England/Dereham Sixth Form College) gave the Golden Knights an insurance goal at 79:45 with his ninth goal of the season, assisted by Ferrer and Charlie Petersen (Erie, Pa./McDowell). Gannon held a 24-5 advantage in shots. Samuel Alarcon (Madrid, Spain/Colegio el Valle II) picked up the shutout in goal with two saves.
 

ERIE, Pa. – We now know that the PSAC Championship will go through Gannon, but head coach Billy Colton's team still has plenty of work to do. The Golden Knights, up to seventh in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II Top 25, clinched first place in the PSAC West on Wednesday night with a 4-1 win over a stubborn Slippery Rock squad.
The Golden Knights remained undefeated at 14-0-2 and 7-0-1 in the Western Division. They have 22 points with two matches remaining while Mercyhurst sits at 16 points. Gannon has a win and a tie in the two regular season meetings with the Lakers. They clinched the top spot in the Western Division for the first time since 2019.
Wednesday's win gave the Golden Knights a bye in the quarterfinals and the right to host the PSAC Final Four. The semifinals will be played on Friday, November 10 at McConnell Family Stadium, with the championship game on Sunday, November 12. The winning team will receive the PSAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Wednesday's win also came with some trepidation before Gannon exploded for three goals in a span of ten minutes late in the second half.

Seton Hill comes in with a 4-10-1 record and 3-4-1 in the PSAC West. However, one of those wins was a 1-0 upset of Mercyhurst last Saturday, and the Griffins are battling for the third and final spot out of the Western Division in the PSAC Tournament.  

Gannon's 14-0-2 start is the best since the 1993 squad opened with 14 straight victories. Gannon had won six games in a row before last Wednesday's 3-3 tie at Mercyhurst. The Golden Knights jumped three spots this week in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25, now sitting seventh in Division II.

Gannon has used a high-scoring attack to attain its high national ranking. The Golden Knights have scored 57 goals this year to lead Division II in goals. They have scored 40 goals over the last nine matches. All told 13 players have found the back of the net.

Head coach Billy Colton put his Golden Knights through an early schedule that was not only tough but featured four long road trips that were almost 3,000 miles round trip. Gannon came away with wins over Ashland (3-1) and St. Rose (1-0) along with a 1-1 tie at Saginaw Valley State. The Mercyhurst match was the fifth against an NCAA playoff team in 2022. 

Last Time Out
Gannon defeated Slippery Rock 7-1 in the first meeting between the two schools. Two weeks later it appeared the Golden Knights would post another lopsided win when James Pool (Hastings, England/Claverham) opened the scoring just over eight minutes into the match, assisted by Petter Dyrkorn (Sandvika, Norway/Doenski Videregaaende Skole). But three minutes later SRU tied the match on a beautiful goal off a corner kick. The rest of the first half saw both teams have numerous scoring opportunities but there would be no more scoring. The Rock continued to hang with the seventh-ranked Golden Knights until Pool broke through for his second goal at the 70:21 mark, assisted by Tinashe Katsande (Norwich, England/Dereham Sixth Form College) and Pau Ferrer (Valencia, Spain/ISES Isabel de Villena). That led to Gannon's high-powered attacks scoring two more times in the next ten minutes. Pool finished off the hat trick when a pass from Shota Toyama (Kanagawa, Japan/Tama) led to his third goal of the evening and 13th of the season at 78:14. Just over two minutes later Ferrer accounted for the third in just over ten minutes, assisted by Herman Aanberg (Hamar, Norway/Wang Toppidrett Oslo). Gannon would end the night with a 22-15 advantage in shots along with 13-4 edge in corner kicks. Samuel Alarcon (Madrid, Spain/Colegio el Valle II) had five saves in goal.

Head Coach: Billy Colton is in his fifth season as Gannon's head men's soccer coach in 2023, and his ninth year overall as a member of the staff. He owns a 64-14-6 record with the Golden Knights making the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2019 and 2022. (NOTE: The NCAA did not hold a tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19). It marked the first time Gannon's men's soccer team made consecutive NCAA Tournaments since 1989-90. Colton guided Gannon to a 13-5-2 finish in 2022, picking up his 50th career victory with a 4-3 win over Seton Hill in the PSAC Tournament quarterfinals. He is the second-fastest coach to 50 wins in Gannon annals, exceeded only by Rob Russo who won 60 matches in his first four seasons. However, Colton's team was limited to just six matches in 2020 due to COVID. He was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year in 2018 after leading the Golden Knights to an 18-3-0 finish, the second-best in school history.
 
Gannon Moves Up Three Spots to Seventh in Latest United Soccer Coaches Poll
After dropping 12 spots from seventh to 19th a month ago in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25, Gannon has continued to climb in the poll. The Golden Knights jumped six spots to 13th a week later. Thanks to wins over Lock Haven and Seton Hill they moved back into the top ten in tenth place two weeks ago, and two more wins over Slippery Rock and California (Pa.) kept the Golden Knights in tenth place last week. The tie at Mercyhurst along with Saturday's win at California (Pa.) boosted the Golden Knights to seventh, matching their highest ranking of the year. The Golden Knights debuted in the Top 25 in ninth place earlier in the year, then moved up two spots to seventh a week later. A 1-1 tie to a Saginaw Valley State team that was in the NCAA Tournament last year led to the drop of 12 spots two weeks ago. In addition they remain second in the Atlantic Region, trailing Charleston (WV).

Katsande, Pool High-Scoring Tandem as Golden Knights Rank Among NCAA Division II Scoring Leaders
When the season began it was expected that Tinashe Katsande (Norwich, England/Dereham Sixth Form College) would play a major role in the team's success on the offensive end. The graduate student from England entered the year with 21 career goals and 50 career points. But to say James Pool (Hastings, England/Claverham) has stepped up in a big way would be an understatement. The redshirt senior now has 13 goals after posting his first hat trick with three goals against Slippery Rock. He had scored just two goals in 30 career matches his first three years. Gannon leads Division II in scoring with 57 goals. Katsande is tied third nationally in goals with 14, is tied for ninth in assists with nine, and leads Division II in points with 37. Pool is tied for sixth in goals (13) and tied for fifth in points (31.). Meanwhile Pau Ferrer (Valencia, Spain/ISES Isabel de Villena) and Sverre Orten (Orsta, Norway/Aalesund vgs) rank among the national leaders in assists. Ferrer is tied for first with 14 and Orten is tied for fourth with 11.  

Scouting Seton Hill
Despite a 4-10-1 overall record and 3-4-1 record in PSAC West action Seton Hill is in a battle for the third and final playoff spot in the division. The Griffins are two points behind Slippery Rock with the two set to play each other to end the regular season next Friday. It was made possible when the Griffins upset nationally-ranked Mercyhurst last Saturday 1-0. They didn't help their playoff chances on Wednesday, however, dropping a 3-2 decision to California (Pa.). Brice Gandhi leads the Griffins with six goals and two assists for 14 points. James Aubrey (5 goals, 3 assists) and Julian Marker (4 goals, 3 assists) are also in double figures in points with 13 and 11, respectively. Aiden Hollander has seen most of the action in goal and has a 1.85 GAA.  

Next for the Golden Knights
Gannon will wrap up the regular season on Friday, November 3 when the Golden Knights host Pitt-Johnstown. The action gets underway at 12 noon.
 
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Players Mentioned

Herman Aanberg

#10 Herman Aanberg

M
5' 10"
Junior
Samuel Alarcon

#1 Samuel Alarcon

GK
6' 0"
Sophomore
Cyber Engineering
Petter Dyrkorn

#3 Petter Dyrkorn

D
5' 10"
Senior
Pau Ferrer

#4 Pau Ferrer

D
5' 9"
Redshirt Sophomore
Computer Science
Sverre Orten

#23 Sverre Orten

M
5' 9"
Sophomore
Business Administration 
Charlie Petersen

#21 Charlie Petersen

M
6' 1"
Redshirt Senior
James Pool

#6 James Pool

M
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
Shota Toyama

#17 Shota Toyama

M
5' 9"
Sophomore
Business
Tinashe Katsande

#7 Tinashe Katsande

F
6' 3"
Graduate Student
Lennox Crews

#22 Lennox Crews

D
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

Herman Aanberg

#10 Herman Aanberg

5' 10"
Junior
M
Samuel Alarcon

#1 Samuel Alarcon

6' 0"
Sophomore
Cyber Engineering
GK
Petter Dyrkorn

#3 Petter Dyrkorn

5' 10"
Senior
D
Pau Ferrer

#4 Pau Ferrer

5' 9"
Redshirt Sophomore
Computer Science
D
Sverre Orten

#23 Sverre Orten

5' 9"
Sophomore
Business Administration 
M
Charlie Petersen

#21 Charlie Petersen

6' 1"
Redshirt Senior
M
James Pool

#6 James Pool

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
M
Shota Toyama

#17 Shota Toyama

5' 9"
Sophomore
Business
M
Tinashe Katsande

#7 Tinashe Katsande

6' 3"
Graduate Student
F
Lennox Crews

#22 Lennox Crews

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
D