By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: JD Cavrich
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – After a 2-0 weekend, the Juniata College men's soccer team is set to host Penn State Altoona this Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 4 p.m. on Winton Hill Field. The Eagles are 3-2 against the Lions since 2001, winning the last two matches by one goal each.
Juniata enters Tuesdays contest 7-1-1 on the season, having not lost a home match this year. The Eagles have scored seventeen goals, through nine games, from nine different players, averaging 2.13 goals per game. Freshmen Aaron Kulig (Green Lane, Pa./Boyertown) and Dani Meyer-Arrivillaga (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends) have each tallied four goals and one assist.
The Eagles back line, led by senior Seth Ruggiero (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) and junior Nick Weit (Lititz, Pa./Warwick), has Juniata ranked ninth in the country in goals against average at 0.54. The goalkeeping trio of sophomore James Johnson (Cumberland, Md./Fort Hill), and freshmen Blaine Barsch (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek) and Jonathan Phillips (Bangor, Pa./Bangor), have held Juniata opponents to just five goals this season earning five shutouts. Barsch is currently leading the conference in both goals against average and save percentage after 452 minutes played.
Penn State Altoona is carrying a 1-5 record into the match up with Juniata. The Lions dropped five games to open the season, but are coming off their first victory, a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Baptist Bible College last Saturday. Sophomore Cody Beach leads Penn State Altoona with two goals this year off five shots. In his senior season, Aaron Ballish has spent the majority of the season in the net for the Lions, recording 25 saves.
The teams last met in 2012 in Altoona, at Spring Run Stadium. The Eagles came away with the 2-1 win. Juniata got two first half goals, from juniors Robby Higgins (Middletown, Pa./Lowerdauphin) and Nick Stone-Weiss (North Olmsted, Ohio/North Olmsted), and outshot the Lions 12-10. Penn State Altoona answered with a second half goal in the 75th minute, but was unable to pull out a comeback despite out-cornering the Eagles 5-1.
The Eagles also play at home this weekend when they open Landmark Conference play against University of Scranton, Saturday, Sept. 28th, at 3:30 p.m.
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