YORK, PA – The York College men's soccer team earned their first-ever trip to the MAC Commonwealth championship match thanks to their 2-1 semifinal win over Widener on a beautiful Wednesday night in York.
The game was hard fought and physical as the two squads went at each other for all 90 minutes of play. York earned just their second ever win over the Pride with the last one coming on September 30, 1989, also a 2-1 Spartan victory.
The Spartans improve to 14-1-5 overall while the Pride see their season come to a close at 9-7-4.
 
How It Happened
• The pace of game was frenetic from the start as the pace was back-and-forth. The Spartans first shot found the back of the net to put the Green and White in the 11^th minute of play. The Spartans played a ball into the box only to have the Pride clear the ball to the right of the box. Senior Tyler Howlett collected the loose ball and hit a streaking Luke Nall, who knocked home the shot for the 1-0 lead.
• The Pride wasted little time in responding as they tied the game just under six minutes later. The Spartan were whistled for a pair of fouls in dangerous areas during the possession. The first Widener shot off the first free kick was blocked. A second foul was called about 25 yards from the top of the box. Stefano Turano hit a great ball into the box where Ricky Venegas Banuelos headed a ball to Christian Doyle who tied the game with the goal.
• The two teams remained tied heading to the half as the Pride out shot York 9-6 overall while Widener had a 4-3 edge in shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes of play.
• The pace of the match slowed a bit to open the second half. The Spartans got the only chance they would end up needing just over ten minutes into the second half. A Widener foul 10 yards inside of midfield gave the Spartans a free kick in front of their bench. Matt Zeiders hit a gorgeous ball into the heart of the box. Gavin Huey made a run from the top of the box, elevated and headed the ball inside the upper right 90 for the go-ahead goal, sending the Spartan bench into a celebratory frenzy in the corner.
• The Spartan defense then was able to weather the storm as the Pride pressured York over the final 28 minutes of the game. Widener fired off eight shots the remainder of the game and including a flurry in the final 40 seconds of the game. Widener drew a corner followed by a Venegas Banuelos shot that was saved by Spartan goalie Jake Bono. Widener got another corner with 17 seconds left but the Spartans cleared the ball before the Pride was able to get a shot off as the game ended.
• Widener ended the match with a 19-9 bulge in total shots but just a slight 5-4 margin in shots on goal. The Pride had a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks. The game featured a combined 29 fouls and nine yellow cards.
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans are now 2-3-1 all-time against the Pride as York registered a win and a tie against Widener this year … the Spartans advance to their first conference championships game since the 2013 Capital Athletic Conference Championship game when they traveled to Salisbury and downed the Sea Gulls 1-0 for the title … York is making their first Commonwealth championship match after making 12 CAC title matches … York is 7-4-1 all-time in conference championship games … the Spartans are now 2-2 in Commonwealth tournament all-time including 1-1 in the semifinals … the Spartans are now 8-0-3 at Graham Field … the 14 total wins are the most since the 2013 team went 19-3-1 and that's the last time York won a conference crown … York was out shot by 10 shots for the third time this year … the combined nine yellow cards was a season-high by four cards … York drew a season-high five yellow cards … Luke Nall continued his late season surge as he scored his third goal in the last two games … Nall now has four goals for the campaign … Nall now has 12 career goals and 38 points during his Spartan career … Gavin Huey recorded his fourth goal of the year and his second career game-winner … sophomore goalie Jake Bono improves to 13-1-4 with the win as he registered four saves in the game.
 
Up Next
The Spartans head to Grantham, PA on Saturday to face the top seeded Messiah University Falcons in the Commonwealth championship game. The Spartans will look to avenge their only loss for the year as the Falcons downed York in the regular season match up. Game time will be determined on Wednesday.