9/18/26
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Still in search of their first win of the year, Lackawanna College men's soccer will hit the road to West Virginia to take on Shepherd University on Saturday, September 19^th. The men's teams are the second game of a doubleheader, playing at 3:30pm ET at the Shepherd Soccer Complex in Shepherdstown, WV.
 
Game Details
Who: Lackawanna College Falcons (0-4-2) at Shepherd University Rams (3-1-2)
When: Saturday, September 19^th, 3:30pm ET
Where: Shepherd Soccer Complex, Shepherd University; Shepherdstown, WV
 
Video | Live Stats
 
Video Coverage: PSAC Sports Digital Network
Fans who cannot make the trip to Shepherd can watch along for free on the PSAC Sports Digital Network.
 
Live stats: https://shepherdrams.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary
Live stats coverage is available and will be updated as the game goes on.
 
The Falcons
Lackawanna (0-4-2) ran out of steam and couldn't keep the Huskies off the board in the second, as Bloomsburg beat the Falcons 4-0 in Bloomsburg on Wednesday night. Bloom scored an early goal in the eleventh minute of the first half to go ahead ,but the Falcons played them even through the rest of the half, even outshooting the Huskies 5-4, but Lackawanna didn't have the goal to show for it, and capitulated three times in the final 26 minutes. You can read the full recap HERE.
 
Jozsef Mark Szilagyi (Budapest, Hungary) recorded a team-high three shots, two on target, while Wisdom Afrani (Accra, Ghana), Byron McNeil (Springfield, IL), Michael Hoy (Mechanicsburg, PA), Adrian Argote (Leonardtown, MD), and Tito Tokunboh-Salako (Columbia, MD) all recorded a shot. Keeper Rowin Thomas (Abilene, TX) had three saves.
 
On the season, the Falcons have given up 12 goals and scored two in six games this year. Lackawanna has 54 shots, 22 on target (.407), with their opponents posting 79 shots, 24 on target (.304). The Falcons have 21 corner kicks, while their opponents have 36 corners this year.
 
Cristian Lopez-Contreras (Guatemala) has the assist on each goal for the Falcons, and the goal scorers are Miguel Pereira (Revere, MA) and Aydin Boyunegmez (Millville, PA). Boyunegmez's goal came against Berkeley on September 5^th, a header off a free kick from Lopez-Contreras. Pereira's goal came in the draw against King's College. Lopez-Contreras leads the team with nine shots and five on target, while Afrani also has nine shots, three on target. Tokunboh-Salako has six total shots this season, while Brayden D'Aiello (Boyertown, PA) has five recorded shots. In between the pipes, Kevin Nievas (West Palm Beach, FL) has four saves and has started in the first four games for the Falcons. Thomas has nine saves this year and has made four appearances, starting the last two games for the Falcons.
 
Lackawanna College is coached by Will Flannery, in his first season at the helm and who took over the program in February earlier this calendar year.
 
In seven months, Flannery has re-energized the squad with a strong professional work ethic that emphasizes accountability and team culture, and the Falcons will field a team with young, talented players at nearly all positions.
 
There wasn't much that returned from last year's team, in terms of production, but multiple transfers have experience on the collegiate level elsewhere, including Lopez-Contreras, who was a second-team NJCAA All-American last year at Harford CC, where he scored 15 goals and had seven assists for the Fighting Owls. The Falcons hope to pair his talent with speedy wingers on the edge and center forwards up front.
 
The Rams
Shepherd (3-1-2) enters the weekend after earning a 2-1 win at home against Shippensburg earlier this week. The Rams scored two goals, one on either side of the break, to go ahead 2-0, then held on after Shippensburg scored a 78^th minute goal to pull back within one. Shippensburg only managed five shots, four on target, while Shepherd had nine shots, just three on frame. The game featured six yellow cards between the two sides.
 
Shepherd has scored eight goals this season, while allowing six, but the Rams have been outshot by an 81-58 margin. Shepherd has 23 shots on target (.397), and their opponents have 35 shots on frame (.432). The Rams have 22 corners, while their opponents have 32, but Shepherd has 29 saves to just 15 for their opponents.
 
Junior forward Josh Petty has a pair of goals this year to lead the Rams, both coming in the 2-1 win against Lock Haven. Petty has six shots, tied for second on the team, and he has three shots on target. He didn't register a shot in the full 90 minutes against Shippensburg.
 
First-year forward Moulay El Yagouti has one goal in his five appearances this year, starting in three games. El Yagouti leads the Rams with eleven shots, five on target, and has the dubious distinction as the yellow card leader with three cautions this season.
 
Senior midfielder Josue Guzman is one of three Shepherd players with a goal and an assist. His assist came in a draw with Seton Hill, and his goal came against Shippensburg earlier this week. He had two shots in the contest for Shepherd. The other players with a goal and an assist are junior forward Harry Booth and sophomore defender Anthony Nzuzi. Booth has five shots on the year, posting an assist against Holy Family and a goal in the draw with East Stroudsburg. Nzuzi had a goal and an assist against Holy Family earlier this season.
 
Junior keeper Aidan Houck has started all six games for the Rams, allowing six goals, a one goal per game average, and posting 29 saves. His best performance came against Lock Haven, where he had a season-best eight saves in the win. He had three saves against Shippensburg earlier this week.
 
The head coach is Ryan McDougall, now in his sixth season in charge at Shepherd. McDougall had one of the better years in recent memory at Shepherd last year, where the Rams won six games, most since 2014, and had Petty named as PSAC East AOTW. Before his time at Shepherd, McDougall was an assistant at UT Rio Grande Valley, helping the Vaqueros finish second in the WAC and earn a WAC tourney appearance in the spring 2021 season. Before that, he coached as an assistant for nine years at West Virginia Wesleyan, working primarily with the goalkeepers. That's where he went to school, as McDougall was a four-year starter at keeper with the Bobcats, leading them to an Elite Eight appearance in 2010. He was a two-time first-team all-conference selection and finished his career with 24 clean sheets in 50 matches.
 
The Rams were picked to finish fifth in the PSAC East this year, despite returning PSAC East AOTW Josh Petty from last year's squad.
 
Next
Next up, the Falcons are set to host Shippensburg on Wednesday, September 23^rd, at Schautz Stadium in Dunmore. Kickoff is set for 3:30pm ET and will be the first match-up between the Falcons and the Raiders.