ELKINS, W.Va. -- Point Park men's soccer squares off against No. 10 Davis & Elkins in the MEC Semifinals on Wednesday night. Opening kick is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Nuttall Field.
ROUND TWO
Point Park picked up its first MEC Tournament victory on Sunday in a 2-1 win over No. 19 Concord. Lander Barrio Gonzalez opened the scoring in the 21st minute with his goal off an assist from Joel Gomez. Gomez would go on to make it 2-0 in the 65th minute, giving the Pioneers a lead they would not surrender.
Point Park is in the postseason for its fourth time in the five-year tenure of Head Coach Cam Williams. The Pioneers qualified for the MEC Tournament last season, as well.
ALL-CONFERENCE ACTION
Point Park featured four players named to the MEC All-Conference Teams, headlined by Hector Moreno's nod to the All-MEC First Team. In addition to Moreno, Joel Gomez and Alejandro Vega were both named All-MEC Honorable Mentions, and Sindri Hjaltested secured a spot on the All-MEC Freshman Team.
LET IT RIP
Hector Moreno leads Point Park with six goals and is tied with Joel Gomez at 12 points apiece. Gomez has scored five goals on the season. Alejandro Vega has contributed three goals and 6 points. Moreno is tied for fifth in the MEC in goals, and he is sixth in the MEC in shots per game (2.13).
Gomez, who is in a tie for ninth in the MEC in goals, is tied with Lander Barrio Gonzalez and Edouard Gagnon for the team lead in assists with all three players having two.
Moreno has been a consistent offensive presence for the Pioneers, who have scored 20 goals this season. Point Park has recorded 216 shots and 87 shots on goal, averaging 1.11 goals per game.
Vega has added an offensive threat from the back line, including his goal in Point Park's 2-1 win over West Liberty on Oct. 21, giving the Pioneers multiple options as they enter postseason play.
Point Park has totaled 61 corner kicks this season, creating opportunities to generate offense from set pieces. Point Park scored both of its goals on Senior Night against West Liberty from corner kicks, with Vega's tally coming from a corner and Luca Alessandro Ferraro forcing an own goal after he directed a corner kick off the crossbar.
SCOUTING THE SENATORS
Davis & Elkins finished with a 12-1-2 (9-1-2 MEC) record and claimed the MEC North Division crown in the regular season and earned a bye in the first round of the MEC Tournament. D&E's last match was a 2-0 win over Point Park on the final day of the regular season.
Johan Magana's six goals are the best on the squad, and he is one of five Senators to score over five goals this season with Francisco Lopez Kreik and Benjamin Luengo accomplishing the feat. Charlie Phillips has played every minute for the Senators in net this season, posting a 0.54 goals-against average and a .771 save percentage.
FORT FUSAY
Goalkeeper Anthony Fusay has been a fixture in goal for Point Park throughout the season, having played all 1,510 minutes of action for Point Park this season. The junior has recorded 63 saves, a .700save percentage and a 1.52 goals-against average, along with three shutouts.
Fusay's best start came against West Liberty on Oct. 21, in which he made a season-high seven saves in the 2-1 win. He added five saves against Davis & Elkins, creating a three-game streak with four or more saves. He has posted four or more saves in 10 of his 17 starts this season.
THIRD TIME 'ROUND
Point Park and Davis & Elkins will meet for the third time this season on Wednesday. The Senators captured a 1-0 win on Sept. 12 at F.N.B. Stadium and won 2-0 on Oct. 28 at Nuttall Field.
EVERYBODY EATS
Point Park has seven different goalscorers on the season, with Moreno's six tallies leading the pack. Joel Gomez has bagged five goals, and Alejandro Vega scored three.
Lander Barrio Gonzalez, Rocco Domenighini, Hugo Ferreira and Nikolas Suarez have all dented the twine this season, with Gonzalez bagging two goals on the season.
Gomez and Edourard Gagnon lead the team in assists with three apiece, and Domenighini, Guilherme Galvo, Gomez, Louis Guffroy and Hijs Van Den Berg have all tallied assists this season.
PRESEASON PRAISE
Point Park was picked to finish second in the Mountain East Conference North Division in the MEC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll. The Pioneers received four of the 10 first-place votes.
