Juniata Hosts Defending Landmark Regular Season Champions
By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College men's soccer team will host defending Landmark Conference champion The University of Scranton, this Saturday, Sept. 28, at 3:30pm, in the opening match of league play. The Eagles have not beaten the Royals since the two teams began annual face offs with the Landmark's inception in 2007.
Juniata is coming off a 4-0 win over Penn Sate Altoona in which the Eagles handed the Lions their worst loss of the season. Juniata stands at 8-1-1 on the year, scoring 24 goals in the process, and boasting six team shutouts. The Eagles are being led offensively by the freshmen duo of Dani Meyer-Arrivillaga (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends) and Aaron Kulig (Green Lane, Pa./Boyertown). The two have scored a combined nine goals and sophomore Dylan Thompson (Broomfield, Colo./Peak to Peak Charter) currently leads the conference in assists per game (.44) and total assists (4).
"I'm looking to see how our offense will react to a higher level team," said head coach Dan Dubois. "We've already show ourselves once this year with the game against Medaille. That was a great team and that was a really good win for us. I'm hoping we can duplicate that. Maybe get a little more attack and looking to see if we can make sure we can equal the offensive firepower that they are going to show us."
Senior center back Seth Ruggiero (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) and senior midfielder Anthony Glossner (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) are leading Juniata's dominant defense that has only allowed four goals so far this season. The Eagles are nationally ranked in the top 25 in average goals against and in the top 40 in shutout percentage.
Reigning Landmark coach of the year Matt Pivirotto's Royals won the regular season Landmark title last year before falling to Susquehanna University 1-0 in overtime of the tournament championship. The team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III tournament and made it all the way to the Elite Eight before losing to eventual national champion Messiah College, 3-0. The Royals are returning 2012 conference offensive player of the year Bill McGuiness.
"We're going to treat [Bill McGuinnes] just like he's another player," said Dubois. "He is a fantastic player, but he's just one player on another team. They've got a bunch of really good players, but so do we. We're looking forward to really challenging ourselves against a high level team tomorrow."
Scranton enters the matchup with a 5-0-3 overall record. The Royals opened the season with a 2-2 draw to Elizabethtown followed by a 1-1 tie against Cabrini in the King's/Scranton Classic. They then won five of their next six games, most recently defeating Ithaca College, 2-1.
While the Eagles have yet to defeat The University of Scranton, three of the six matches have been decided by a one-goal differential. Juniata has not lost at home this year and will look to break the Royals eight-game-unbeaten streak on Saturday.
"They are a very good team – making it to the elite eight last year," said Dubois. "The guys are amped up. They are ready to go. This game is what we've been working on and we're going to stick to our game plan."
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