Bill McGuiness

Box score

SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The University of Scranton men's soccer team battled for nearly 98 minutes with the Landmark Conference championship on the line, but could not tally the game-winning goal, eventually falling to Susquehanna University, 1-0 in overtime, on Sunday afternoon at Sassafras Field.

The defeat drops the Royals to 15-2-2 on the season while Susquehanna improves to 17-2. The Crusaders won their first Landmark Conference title and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Royals will hope for an at large bid when the field is announced Monday, Nov. 5, at 1 p.m.

Susquehanna won it when sophomore forward Ryan Donlevie (Strathan, N.H./Exeter) scored at 97:58 on a feed from junior defender Patrick Fry (Denver, Colo./Colorado Academy).

Scranton had a handful of chances in regulation, outshooting Susquehanna, 13-8, in the first 90 minutes. But the Crusaders had the only three shots in the overtime period. Susquehanna held an 8-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Senior midfielder Bill McGuiness (Forty Fort, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) had a team-high four shots for the Royals while senior midfielder Kevin Romanauskas (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown Area) and junior midfielder Colin McFadden (Ventnor City, N.J./St. Augustine Preparatory) had three each.

Senior goalie James Dillon (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) made a pair of saves in goal for the Royals.

Susquehanna, ranked 20th in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, was the top seed for the tournament while Scranton entered as the No. 3 seed. The two teams finished tie with Catholic for first place in the regular season, and the Crusaders won the top seed by way of a conference tiebreaker. Scranton wound up with the No. 3 seed based on its regular season loss to Catholic.

--ROYALS--