Millersville, Pa. – It took just nine minutes for Millersville to get its first goal of the season. Andrew Dukes showed no signs of a sophomore slump when he was awarded a penalty kick for getting pulled down in the box in the opening session. Dukes sent it home and the Marauders picked up a late goal to take down the Pioneers, 2-0.

The outcome of the penalty kick was quite clear. But the call to award Dukes’ free kick was not. One of the Tusculum defenders pulled Dukes from behind in the box to keep him from scoring the first goal of the game and no red card was given. The typical call should have given the Marauders a man advantage the rest of the contest. Millersville dealt with the decision, took the 1-0 lead, and dominated the rest of the first half.

The Marauders were not only pitching a shutout, but had held the Pioneers to zero shots until the final minute of the half. Tusculum had its chances deep in the offensive zone, but could not get past the Millersville defense.

The Pioneers woke up in the second half getting several more looks in the offensive zone. Millersville’s redshirt freshman Brad Benzing stood strong in goal, cutting off crosses and lead-through passes to keep the Marauders up by a goal. Tusculum only registered one shot on goal the entire game.

The game got physical as the time winded down. Three yellow cards were given out in the final five minutes. The teams combined for 32 fouls.

The Marauders started to show signs of pulling away in the final 10 minutes, but two missed opportunities kept the game at 1-0.

In the 89th minute, senior Pat Baffuto collected a pass down the right side from Eric Pepper and charged toward the box. Baffuto struck the ball hoping to find a teammate on the other side. The ball was deflected by a defender and trickled by the goalkeeper, who was making a move to cut off the pass, and into the goal.

Millersville finished the game with seven shots on goal. Senior Aaron Roland led the team in shots on goal with two promising headers that forced the goalkeeper to make excellent saves
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The Marauders open up conference play next Wednesday, Sept. 7 when Slippery Rock comes to town. The game is slated to start after the women’s contest at 4 p.m. Both games will be broadcasted by the Marauder Sports Broadcasting Network (MSBN). Fans that cannot make it can listen or watch live.

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