Bethany 3, Franciscan 1

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

Bethany Starters
Ursino, Faye, Fontes-Candida, O'Garro, Puebla, Christian, Veiga, Arrocain, James, Gionchetti & Goalkeep - Salihovic

How It Happened 
    Franciscan hosted the PAC championships tonight as the #2 seed, facing the #5 Bethany Bison. The Barons beat the Bison in the regular season matchup, but tonight the Bison would claim victory and take the PAC title. The Bison were controlling the ball well, but the Baron midfielders and backs were not allowing any good opportunities. For the first 20 minutes it looked like the game was going to be low scoring and come down to one big lucky play. That lucky play would fall in the hands of the Bison in the 22'. The Bison's O'Garro would rip a shot from the left side of the box. The ball was blocked and deflected into the hand of a Baron's defender. The officials called a handball on the Barons, and awarded the Bisons a penalty kick. The kick was taken by Modou, who put the ball in the middle right side of the goal beat the goalkeeper who anticipated a left-side kick. Lightning struck twice, as the Bison's followed up with another goal by Ursino, shortly after a corner kick in the Baron's end. The Bison found themselves up 2-0 going into halftime. 
    The Bison didn't look to stay back and defend their lead, as their forwards and midfielders kept pushing forward on the field. This allowed the Barons some great scoring opportunities, as they retained control of the ball better after halftime adjustments from coach Brent Ridenour. The Barons were awarded a throw-in deep in the attacking zone, and Nick Miller put the ball right in front of the net. Joseph Fioramonti was there to head the ball in and passed the goalkeeper. This gave the Barons incredible momentum, and you could feel the urgency as they pushed the ball looking for that tying goal. The Barons had the ball for most of the remainder of the game. At this time, the Bison played conservatively and just cleared the ball out of their defensive zone every chance they had. The Barons made an amazing effort and fought to the bitter end, but there just wasn't enough time to overcome the two goal lead. 

Inside the Numbers  
-Joseph Fioramonti scored his first goal of the season.
-Nick Miller recorded his 4th assist of the season, his career total is 15.
-Jax Mautone recorded 4 saves, bringing his season total to 96.
-Franciscan led the PAC in assists this season with 32.
-The Barons 1.50 goals against for the season was 3rd best in the PAC.


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