Franciscan 1, Westminster 0

Franciscan Starters 
Chris St. George, Joseph Fioramonti, Sebastian Koehler, Jonathan Schriner, Ryan Miller, Joshua Atkinson, Nick Miller, Joseph St. George, Liam Nagle, JP Bobak, & Goalkeeper - Jax Mautone  

Westminster Starters
Haseyama, Caterino, Taylor, Iregui, Accordino, Goodwin, Ulizzi, Esqueda, Jimenez, Pauline & Goalkeeper - Jadallah

How It Happened 
    Franciscan finished their regular season at Westminster, then after the bye, again for tonight's semifinal matchup. Franciscan would hold on to their lead, and win 1-0 advancing to the championship game. In their last meeting, Franciscan came out aggressive and had a 2-0 lead before you could exhale. Tonight Westminster was well-prepared for the Franciscan attack, and controlled the ball early. The first half was a back-and-forth. High quality scoring chances were hard to come by, as Westminster smothered Sebastian Koehler the entire game. The game-winning goal came in the final seconds of the first half. Franciscan won a throw in on the attacking end. The ball bounced around as Westminster tried to clear and Franciscan looked for shooting lanes. Justin Fioramonti had a pass get deflected and land at the feet of Isaac Doyle on the left side 40 yards out. The announcer was already counting down the final 10 seconds. As the clock ran 3...2...1, Doyle ripped a shot. The Westminster goalkeeper could not see the shot coming, and the ball went into the ball cleanly as the clock ran out. The officials ruled it a goal, and put 0.2 seconds remaining on the clock. 
    In the second half, Westminster pulled out all the stops and stayed on the attack for nearly 45 minutes, including turning the physicality of the game up. The brothers Justin Fioramonti and Joseph Fioramonti each received a yellow card after battling for position with their opponent. Westminster's Goodwin had a yellow card for running into the goalie twice in-a-row during corner kicks, and Callahan received a yellow after a frustration play from behind in his own end. Jax Mautone had his work cut out for him to keep his team ahead. However, the goalkeeper was un-phased by the pressure, and rose up to the occasion. In the second half, Westminster had 17 shots, 7 of them on goal, and 6 corner kicks. Mautone had to make big acrobatic saves to keep Westminster from tying the game. On two attempts, Westminster had the defense beat and only had to beat Mautone. Tonight it didn't matter; a crowded corner kick, wide-open attempt, high corner shot, all stopped by Mautone.

Inside the Numbers  
-Jax Mautone recorded 7 saves
-Isaac Doyle netted his first goal of the season
-Justin Fioramonti recorded his first assist of the season
-This is the Barons 5th shutout of the year

Who's Next? 
Franciscan will host #5 Bethany for the PAC Championship on Saturday at Franciscan at 7 pm. Bethany has taken the longer route to the Championship by winning in the quarterfinals over Chatham and a semifinal win tonight over Grove City. Bethany is in search of their 31st PAC Men's Soccer Championship, as they were a powerhouse in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Their last title was in 2001. Franciscan will be searching for their first ever Soccer Conference Championship in school history. The Barons defeated the Bison earlier this season on the road. Four different scorers, Nagle, Irvin, Schriner and R. Miller, found the back of the net to lead the Barons to a 4-2 win.

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