NICK MERSCH
SPORTS EDITOR
The Barons trotted out onto a muddy field on Saturday, Oct. 27 to take on and dismantle the D’Youville Spartans 6-1 in the first round of the conference playoffs.
Sophomore forward Sebastian Koehler got the scoring started in the first minute of play with a nice finish off an assist from freshman midfielder Nick Miller. After a flurry of Franciscan shots on net that were blocked by the Spartan keeper, sophomore midfielder JP Bobak found the back of the net off of an unassisted shot to the bottom right corner.
D’Youville kept the Barons on their toes going into halftime by netting one in the 40th minute. Franciscan put 16 shots on net in the first half to the Spartans’ six. However, sophomore goalkeeper Brian Gaughan only had to make one save while the Barons forced the D’Youville goalkeeper to stop seven shots.
At the start of the second half, Bobak gave the Barons some insurance with his second goal of the game and fourth of the season. Bobak gave the crowd a show with a handful of “FIFA-esque” post-goal celebrations as well.
Miller added to the lead with back-to-back goals in the 61st and 65th minutes, the first one a screamer that kissed the upper 90 before breaking the plane of the goal.
To put the icing on the cake of this blowout, senior midfielder Brennan McNamara put in his third goal of the season off of a chip ahead from senior defender Jude Ledyard to the crowds’ vast approval. Gaughan finished the game only having to make three saves to preserve the lead and to show the fantastic effort by the Baron defense.
“I’m very happy how we have been playing leading up to our semi-final match. We are on a four-game win streak and have only allowed one goal during that time,” said head coach Christian Bobak. “We are excited with the opportunity to play Behrend again. … It will certainly be a battle, and I’m excited to see how we will respond.”
The Barons take on No. 1 seed Penn State-Behrend on the road at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31.