Jon Roberts	Justin Hammert

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The University of Scranton men's soccer team (11-4-2, 6-1 Landmark) jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held on for a 2-1 win over the Juniata Eagles (7-10, 1-6 Landmark) on Saturday afternoon at Gibbel Stadium in Huntingdon.

The Royals clinched the No. 2 seed in the Landmark Conference Tournament with the win and will host No. 3 seed Elizabethtown in the semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at Weiss Field at 7 p.m.

Scranton had a handful of chances in the early going and a shot from senior Riley Smith (New Hope, Pa./New Hope Solebury) in the 18^th minute was turned away by Juniata goalie Andrew Yelch. In the 26^th minute, senior Justin Hammert (Archbald, Pa./Scranton Prep) slid a pass to classmate Jon Roberts (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Immaculata-Somerville) at the edge of the box and Roberts was able to beat Yelch with his team-leading seventh goal of the season to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Head coach Matt Pivirotto's squad had a series of chances in the final minutes of the first half, but the game remained 1-0 for the time being. The Royals held a 15-3 shot advantage in the first half.

The Royals continued to mount a strong attack in the early stages of the second half and extended the lead in the 60^th minute as Hammert got behind the defense and his initial shot was turned away by Yelch, but the Archbald, Pa., native buried the rebound to stretch it to 2-0. The goal was Hammert's second of the season. Juniata cut the lead in half in the 64^th minute on a penalty kick goal from Bass Diakhoumpa. Scranton put together a strong defensive effort and held the Eagles without a shot over the final 25 minutes of the contest.

On the afternoon, the Royals held a 26-5 advantage in shots led by six shots from Roberts and five from Hammert. Sophomore Jake Hodlofski (West Chester, Pa./Malvern Prep) and senior Blake Hammert (Archbald, Pa./Scranton Prep) each played 45 minutes in net to combine on the win for Scranton.

--ROYALS--