Marina Nets Two to Catapult Greater Allegheny Men's Soccer to the Semi-Finals

York, Pa. - Penn State Greater Allegheny and Penn State York battled hard for 87 minutes in the first-round of the Penn State University Athletic Conference play-offs before sophomore forward Marin Marina (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) posted two in just over a minute to blank York, 2-0, to move onto the PSUAC semi-finals.

The first half was battled even to zero, as York outshot Greater Allegheny 8-4.

Both teams came out eager in the second half, as each team wanted to make their name in the semi-final round.

In the 88th minute of the contest, freshman defender Nick Schiller (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) served the ball to Marina, who ripped a shot from the left edge of the box to put it past the goalies hands to be the first to get on the board in regulation, GA 1-0.

With the team still feeling the excitement from the initial goal, Marina accepted a pass from freshman midfielder Ricardo Dip (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Commonwealth), to ring the empty netter in the 89th minute to solidify the Greater Allegheny triumph, 2-0.

The atmosphere was filled with emotion on both sides of the bench as Greater Allegheny earned their first semi-final bid under head coach Achilles Vassilicos.

Marina posted four shots through the game, three being on target. Junior midfielder Gerardo Diaz Perez (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico/Immaculate Conception Academy) and sophomore midfielder Bimal Bhattarai (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) each notched a shot a piece.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Wood (Rockville, Md./St. John's College High) faced eight shots on goal, stopping all eight, posting his third shutout of the season.

Greater Allegheny (9-5, 4-5 PSUAC) survives and advances to the semi-final match, scheduled for Thursday. The men will face either #1 Penn State Brandywine or #2 Penn State Beaver.