The 2016 men’s soccer regular season ended on Saturday, October 29th with a win over Lock Haven 1-0. The Vulcans regular season record was 10-5-1 with a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference record of 6-4-1.

Looking back at the season, the men’s team challenged three West Virginia teams, a team from New York, Ohio and the rest from Pennsylvania. The Vulcans were particularly sturdy at home with only 2 losses, both from the top 2 teams in the PSAC, a tie and 4 wins. The California team scored 16 goals and only allowed 8 at home. On the road they went 6-3 and had a total of 14 goals for with 8 goals allowed.

Throughout the season the men’s team had highs and lows, yet they persevered to make playoffs. For instance, after back to back losses to Mercyhurst, 1st in the PSAC, and Gannon, 3rd in the PSAC, the Vulcans were in a fight or flight situation. In order to make playoffs California needed to win the last three matches of the year, a goal in which they achieved. That aspect was one of the many brilliant moments of the season but one in particular stood out. Freshman Cooper Amos had an outstanding rookie campaign with 7 total goals on the regular season. Another notable performance was by Sophomore Goalie, Lucas Exner. The German prodigy had a total of 84 total saves and 6 shut outs. One of the best games played by California was against rival Millersville on October 8th at home. The 5-1 victory demonstrated their full potential and they could prove to be quite a force in playoffs.

California is the 5th seed going into playoffs pitting them against the 4th seeded Seton Hill. The men’s team travels Greensburg on November 1st with a start time of 1pm for the quarterfinal matchup. If the Vulcans win, then they will face Mercyhurst for the semifinal match on Friday, November 4th. The PSAC finale is Sunday, November 6th.