The Point Park Women’s team is hungry for playoff success, and after finishing second in the River States Conference (RSC) with an impressive 7-1-2 record, the season is long from over as they continue to fight for the championship. In order to advance, the Pioneers faced off against the seventh ranked conference team with a 4-5-1 record, the Midway Eagles, in the RSC quarterfinals. In their previous matchup in the regular season, the Pioneers beat the Eagles 5-0 at Midway when senior Holly Pascoe scored three goals to convert a hat trick. Based on their status as a higher seed and on their performance in their one and only matchup of the season, the Pioneers were the favorites heading into this game.
In order to win in the playoffs, your best players need to perform at a high level. However, you also need contributions from up and down the lineup, a fact that was put on display as freshman Paula Sole made her mark in her first ever playoff game. Sole, from Valencia, Spain, had four goals heading into the playoff game and made major contributions in an outstanding playoff performance. As the Pioneers were in the offensive zone for a good portion of time to start the game, Pascoe set up Sole perfectly at the 14:35 mark and put the Pioneers up 1-0. As a senior, these playoff games mean that much more to the players, and you could tell when watching Pascoe play in this game, as she was all over the field. Not long after her nice assist she scored her own goal at the 24:51 mark to put the Pioneers up 2-0. Considering Midway finished with only three shots on goal, they had no answer for the Pioneers. The knockout punch came in the second half when Sole scored her second of the game from Pascoe to make it 3-0 Pioneers. The final score resulted in a 3-1 victory. The Women’s team will play the third ranked team Rio Grande in the RSC Semifinals on Wednesday to continue their playoff journey.
At George K. Cupples Stadium, the men’s team had to play the second game of the day, following the remarkable performance of the women’s team. The Pioneers finished 3rd in the RSC with a 6-3-1 record, and they have championship aspirations. They played Midway, who finished sixth in conference play with a 5-5 record.
As playoffs are do or don’t, the intensity of every play in this game was amplified as the boys got chippy in this one with the Eagles. It was a grinding type of game. The number one offensive weapon in the conference is Point Park’s Philipp Harder, who leads in goals with 15. We knew he was going to make a difference in the outcome of the game. At the 18:41 mark of the game, Harder got the scoring off in the first playoff game with an assist from Moritz Sarfert. The first half would finish with a score of 1-0. The Pioneers needed one more good half to advance. Within the first 10 minutes, the Pioneers wasted no time, and at the 54:07 mark, Sarfert scored his 4th goal of the season. After this goal the battle on the field was boiling and became very physical, as minutes after, multiple yellow cards were given out. Harder received one, as did Midway’s Conor O’Brien. With the Pioneers up 2-0 and Midway struggling to find any type of offense, the Pioneers seemed to have this victory in the bag, but at the 82:22 mark Point Park goalie Shane Jackson was injured, and he was subbed in for Eduard Garcia. They both contributed to a playoff shutout, as the Pioneers won the game with a final score of 3-0, and Harder scored the last goal of the game at the 83:37 mark.
The Men’s team will play Rio Grande on Wednesday as they are a wagon in the RSC. They finished first with a 9-0-1 record and have three of the top goalscorers in the top five of the conference. This will be a hard game, but the playoffs are all about battling against the best of the best, and the Pioneers will come out fearless in order to advance.
