La Plume, PA- The Rosemont men’s soccer team(8-9-2) took on Keystone College(12-4-1) in the CSAC finals on Saturday night and lost 1-0.
It was a heavily contested battle in the first half as neither team was able to score. Keystone out shot Rosemont 8-3 in the first half, but neither team was able to capitalize on their shot opportunities. Senior, Grant Gonzalez had four big saves for the Ravens in the first half.
Coming out of halftime, Keystone had a shot opportunity that was saved by Gonzalez. Rosemont’s defense was superb, but Keystone would score at the 55:27 mark to take a 1-0 lead. The Ravens had several opportunities to score but were unable to execute. Josh Lessig had a chance to tie the game, but missed slightly above the goal post at the 72:00 mark of the game. The Ravens had a shot attempt by Ameer Payton that was blocked by a Keystone defender at the 79:28 mark. Keystone out shot Rosemont 20-10 for the game. The Ravens played with great intensity throughout the game with the championship title on the line, but were unable to execute their shots. Grant Gonzalez finished the game with seven saves.
It was a historic season for the Rosemont Ravens as they advanced to the CSAC finals for the first time since 2012 behind the leadership of Head Coach, Jesser Zafiratos in his first season at Rosemont. The Ravens accomplished a lot throughout the season and grew as a team. The key turning point of the season was the four-game winning streak during the middle of October to put them in the playoffs.
Senior Josh Dawicki led the team with nine goals for the season. Senior Grant Gonzalez had 111 saves for the Ravens and provided a huge spark to the team. Senior Nick Tortorella provided leadership throughout the season and finished with one goal. Senior Ameer Payton played excellent defense throughout the season and was a key difference maker. Senior, Alioune Sy had four goals and three assists for the season to help lead the Ravens offense. Senior Josh Lessig had two goals on the season including the game winning goal against Clarks Summit University to put Rosemont in the playoffs.
The seniors provided excellent leadership to the younger players on the team and led by example. The ravens finish the season with a 8-10-2 record.
