Box Score Sophomore Frank Iacovangelo (Rochester, NY/Aquinas) and freshman Austin Gerber (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) each scored goals as the Keuka College men's soccer team picked up its third win in four games with a 2-1 victory over Lancaster Bible College Thursday afternoon in Lancaster, PA.
In a showdown of NEAC rivals jockeying for position in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) standings, it was the Storm (8-4-1, 5-3 NEAC) that scored first, taking a 1-0 lead on Iacovangelo's second goal in Keuka's last three games. Gerber served in a well-placed ball from 35 yards out towards the back post for Iacovangelo, who had snuck into the back of Lancaster's defense. Iacovangelo received the pass on the edge of the six-yard line and sent a header into the near portion of the goal for the lead in the 20th minute.
Lancaster Bible responded with the tying goal in the 44th minute, knotting the score at 1-all when Sean Westerlund beat the Keuka defense and scored just 1:47 before halftime.
On the eventual game-winning goal, again Gerber and Iacovangelo were involved in the score, but this time it was Iacovangelo setting up Gerber for the game-winner. On a quick-strike counter attack from 45 yards out, Iacovangelo served a ball into the box for Gerber, who had made a long diagonal run into the goal area.
Iacovangelo's pass drew Jarrod Bergey, Lancaster's goalie, off his line and Gerber sent a header high over Bergey's head for the eventual winning goal in the 70th minute. It was Gerber's second goal of the season.
Keuka's defense then settled down and limited the Chargers' chances down the stretch to pick up the all-important win. Junior Derek Condon (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas), the two-time Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III South Region Defensive Player of the Week, made seven saves in the win.
"We played with a lot of maturity over the last 10-15 minutes, we defended very well collectively and kept our shape and our discipline," said Matt Tantalo, Keuka's seventh-year head coach who has never seen the Storm finish with a sub-.500 record during his tenure.
"The challenge today, Lancaster Bible is a very athletic team, so it posed a big challenge for us, but we were up for the challenge and handled it quite well. We showed some maturity today."
The top five teams qualify for the annual NEAC postseason tournament, which runs Nov. 1-6, and Thursday's win over the Chargers helped the Storm solidify its position in the standings. With just two NEAC contests remaining, Keuka is entrenched in fourth place, a full game ahead of Penn State-Abington (6-7, 4-4 NEAC) for the last remaining playoff spot.
With the loss, Lancaster Bible (5-9-2, 3-3-2 NEAC) fell into a sixth-place tie with Morrisville State.
"This was a very important match for us and a very big win in terms of keeping us in the hunt for the conference tournament," Tantalo said. "I always tell the guys that for us right now it's about doing the things we need to do to be successful. I try to deter them from worrying about the results or who we play next, because if we do what we need to do to be successful on the field, the results will come. This was a great result for us today."
Keuka returns to action at 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon when it hosts Morrisville State.