The Lancaster Bible College Men's Soccer team has advanced to the United East Conference Volt Division Semifinals next Monday after a convincing 3-0 win at home. The Chargers, who entered the tournament as the three-seed, improve to 9-8-2 overall. The Lions end their 2023 campaign 2-11-3 overall.
 
How It Happened: The Chargers came out firing in the first half, sending a total of 15 shots towards the goal and earning eight corners on Saturday night. Despite the barrage of offensive presses from the Chargers, the Lions withstood everything thrown at them for some time, including a big-time save from the Lions' goalkeeper on a penalty shot from sophomore Ben Nolt. It was Nolt who later found redemption as he sliced through the middle of the field, placing a shot in the bottom left of the goal to give the Chargers their first lead of the game with under twenty minutes left in the half. It was freshman Dan Marcroft who added to the lead thanks to some nifty passing from teammates Kyle Hughes and Hemberth Peña, sending the game to halftime with a 2-0 lead.
 
Keeping pace in the second half, the Chargers sent another 15 shots towards the goal and six more corner kicks. The Lions defense held strong until the 78^th minute when sophomore Andrew Cox got one to go on an assist from freshman Nate Siers to grow the lead to 3-0 and send the Chargers to the United East Volt Division Semifinals.
 
From the Coach: "We played pretty well overall tonight and attacked the space they gave us. Berks put up a good fight and made it difficult to break through, but were able to finish a few and get several guys on who have worked hard all year. Our focus is on Harrisburg Monday and we are ready to play that game at their place." – Head Coach Tommy Ardt
 
By the Numbers: The Chargers had 30 shots to the Lions' two shots… the Lions finished with 10 saves… the corner kicks were 14-1 in favor of the Chargers… Nolt, Marcroft, and Cox all finished with a goal each.
 
Information to Know: Some scores from around the conference… #4 St. Mary's (Md.) defeated #5 Penn College 5-1 and will play Penn St. Abington on Monday, October 30… on the Skye Division side, #5 Keystone defeated #4 Bryn Athyn 3-2 and will play #1 Rosemont on Monday… St. Elizabeth beat Notre Dame of Maryland 4-2 and will play at Cairn on Monday.
 
Up Next: The Chargers will head to #2 seed Penn St. Harrisburg for the Volt Division Semifinals on Monday, October 30. Kickoff is to be determined.