By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: Jennifer Jones
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – For the first time in program history, the Juniata College men's soccer team defeated The University of Scranton. The match ended with less than two minutes remaining in the first overtime period when junior Robby Higgins (Middletown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) nailed home the game winner for a 1-0 victory.
"We've been on the bad end of that result so many times," said head coach Dan Dubois. "These seniors, they've lost so many of those games – big conference games that have been really close that we've been hanging on, scratching tooth and nail, trying to make something out of it and just coming out on the wrong end. Today things bounced the other way. The guys worked hard the entire time. They had confidence in what they were doing and it worked out. It's really great."
In the waning minutes of overtime the Eagles earned a free kick in range of the Royals goal. After the service in by senior Seth Ruggiero (Bangor, Pa./Bangor), the ball finally settled down to the feet of Higgins. He took one touch into a small pocket of space and ripped a shot to the far corner for his second goal of the year.
"Robby is just so good with the ball at his feet and being able to be calm in the face of absolute chaos coming at him," said Dubois. "With the pressure that their midfield was putting on our midfield I thought he handled it great. I don't think he could have done more than what he did today. He was keeping the ball moving, and getting in on tackles, and just being absolutely relentless. I can't say enough about what he did today."
Both teams had a number of chances throughout the match and though the Royals outshot the Eagles, 19-10, the teams had many more chances that were broken up by strong defensive efforts. Ruggiero and fellow center back Nick Weit (Litiz, Pa./Warwick), along with midfielders Higgins and senior Anthony Glossner (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) were crucial to the Juniata defense that helped snap The University of Scranton's eight-game unbeaten streak.
"Our defense was able to disposes their offense a lot and get the ball moving forward," said Dubois. "Their defense disposed us and did the same thing coming back at us. Their midfield sat back a little deeper which allowed them more space to come forward with the ball, which was very dangerous, but we were able to close space down. Our center backs were breaking up everything. Anthony in front of them was breaking up everything and they were able to get the ball back and moving forward."
The Eagles are 1-0 in Landmark Conference play for the first time in league history. Freshman goalkeeper Jonathan Phillips (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) came up with five saves in the match to help record Juniata's seventh shutout of the year.
"The neat thing about this team is that they are not afraid of anybody," said Dubois. "They are fully aware of what other teams have, sometimes maybe too aware, but they're not afraid of anybody. We know no one is afraid of us, but we're not afraid of facing anyone. We know it's going to be a fight. We know we're good enough to be in the match every match. We know that if we can keep that hunger all season we'll be where we want to be by the end of it. This is a great first step for us in conference."
Juniata next returns home to face Misericordia University, Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 4 pm on Winton Hill Field.
"The rest of the season is going to be about, can we come out and do it again," said Dubois. "Can we challenge ourselves to stick to the game plan, to work just as hard, to be in the right spots, to read the game the right way? You have to be willing to do all of those things again. When it comes down to it, that's really all there is, we just have to come out and do it again."
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