Box Score Box Score
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – For the second-straight game Ryan Donlevie (Stratham, N.H./Exeter) netted the game winner for the Susquehanna men's soccer team and on Sunday, that goal translated into a Landmark Conference championship title for SU.
The No. 1 seeded Crusaders (17-2-0) defeated No. 3 seed Scranton (14-2-2) 1-0 on Donlevie's overtime goal that propelled Susquehanna into the NCAA Tournament. SU won its first league title since 2008 while also capturing its program-record 17th victory.
The NCAA Division III men's soccer selection show will take place Monday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. The link to the live announcement can be found here.
The game was an evenly matched one, as well as a scrappy one, that took nearly eight minutes of extra time to determine a winner. Overall, the Royals did out-shoot SU by a 13-11 margin and the Scranton defense held the Crusaders to only three shots on goal but it was one of those SU shots proved to be the difference.
Susquehanna goalie Matt Salsman (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) finished with six saves including five in a scoreless first half as SU eventually secured its fifth-straight shutout.
Both teams had several opportunities to put a goal on the scoreboard but shots that sailed just wide of goal combined with solid goalkeeping from Salsman in particular kept it a 0-0 game at half.
The Royals did end the half with three shots over the final 15 minutes as the momentum seemed to shift a bit to their side but they were still unable to find the back of the net as the half wound down.
The story was much of the same for the second half as both teams had fans on the edges of their seats with several chances that looked like they might turn into goals. None of them did, however, and the game went into overtime.
SU came out firing during the extra session, holding Scranton without a single shot while taking three of its own, the final of which was Donlevie's game winner off an assist from Patrick Fry (Denver, Colo./Colorado Academy).
