Jake Hodlofski

SCRANTON, Pa. – Elizabethtown's JD Haaf scored the game-winner 3:09 into the first overtime and The No. 2 seed University of Scranton men's soccer team (11-5-2) dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker to the No. 3 seed Blue Jays (11-5-2) on Tuesday night at Weiss Field in Scranton.

Haaf gathered a ball just outside the top left corner of the box and was able to send a shot into the far corner of the net. Elizabethtown advances to play top seeded Catholic in Saturday's Landmark Conference Championship game.

The two teams battled through a scoreless first half in which both sides recorded a couple of quality chances. Sophomore goalie Jake Hodlofski (West Chester, Pa./Malvern Prep) made an early save for the Royals in the 10^th minute to keep the game scoreless and the Royals nearly took the lead in the 23^rd minute with a shot from freshman Christian Arcos (Bayonne, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) that was turned away by Elizabethtown's Kelvin Del Cid. The Blue Jays held a slight 5-3 shot advantage in the opening 45 minutes.

Scranton had a chance in the 62^nd minute, but a shot in close from senior Riley Smith (New Hope, Pa./New Hope Solebury) went just wide of the net and the game remained scoreless for the time being. In the 75^th minute, Arcos beat a couple of defenders and his attempt from just outside the top of the box landed just to the right of the net. Hodlofski made an incredible save in the 85^th minute as he turned away a shot from Haaf with a diving save.

The Blue Jays had a goal called back in the opening minute of overtime due to offsides. 

Elizabethtown held a 12-9 advantage in shots and Arcos paced the Royals with three shots on the night to go along with a pair from Smith. Hodlofski made three saves in net for Scranton, while Del Cid had two saves for the Blue Jays.

Tuesday's game marked the final contest in a Scranton uniform for seniors Blake Hammert (Archbald, Pa./Scranton Prep), Christian Savino (Downingtown, Pa./Malvern Prep), Justin Hammert (Archbald, Pa./Scranton Prep), Patrick Prinner (Wilton, Conn./Wilton), Smith, Nick Kapelewski (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury), Jon Roberts (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Immaculata-Somerville), Michael Donnelly (Mahopac, N.Y./John F. Kennedy), Sotiri Econopouly (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Bergen Catholic), Anthony Cassano (Leonia, N.J./Leonia) and Alex Dadourian (Summit, N.J./Summit). The 2019 senior class helped lead the Royals to 41 wins over the past four seasons along with a Landmark Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament second round appearance in 2016. 

--ROYALS--