Under the guise of a crisp Halloween evening, the California Vulcans clipped the playoff wings of the IUP Crimson Hawks at the Phillipsburg Facility.

Oftentimes pride is enough to arson the hopes of another. Heading into Tuesday’s kickoff, the Hawks lived in a simple scenario; win or no playoffs. The winless last month-and-a-half has skeletonized the Vulcans down to their pride. Visitors had everything to fight for, the hosts: nothing except for pride. Nothing is dangerous, Francis Ngannou knocked down Fury with nothing in his hands.

The visitors represented the next year’s aspirations of the hosts. The Hawks average a goal-and-a-half more per game than the Vulcans. Senior forward Hannah Scardina has scored nine times this season, tying for second-most in the PSAC. The potent IUP offense has kept the Hawks in the thick of the playoff race in the PSAC West Conference.

Right from the first whistle, the weights fell off the Vulcan’s ankles. In denial of recent form, the Vulcans equaled the Hawks throughout the entire first half. Pinging passes to one another, the hosts held the ball for two to three minutes at a time. The European-playstyle pinocchios of Lorina Romeis’s dreams became real boys as the Vulcans broke down the IUP press through purposeful interchanges.

The Vulcans carried a hammer with them in the first half, riffling in 2 shots before intermission. Freshman midfielder Ella Kaszeta whacked a shot wide from twenty yards out in the 26th minute. Two minutes later, fellow midfielder Kaylee Elwood laced the Vulcan’s second shot just over the goal’s upper right corner. The girls-in-white sought the elusive oasis in their goal desert.

Mice fear the hawk, the Vulcans were wise to fear Scardina. Named All-PSAC West First Team both in 2021 and 2022, only the post denied the striker from one final playoff dance. In the 39th minute, the IUP captain delicately chipped a shot over Vulcan goalkeeper Emily Ouimet
from just inside the penalty box. The ball arched towards the playoffs for a heartbeat, only to be parried away by the right post. Caelin Thomas watched on, Katey Berns partially cleared the ball, and Ouimet finally corralled it, ending IUP’s best chance of the match.

After intermission, the match opened up as the two opponents traded hooks. The Vulcans outshot the Hawks three to eight, with six of those eight finding the target. Kaszeta rifled another shot from twenty yards out in the 51st minute, this time forcing a save from Hawk goalkeeper
Vanessa Berlin. Hawk blocks stopped surefire Vulcan goals in the 50th and 71st minutes. If the first half was a step forward, the second was a leap.

With the temperatures dipping down into the thirties, the game came to a close locked in a stalemate. Watching the Vulcans find an education from each successive loss this season has been an exhausting joy. On Halloween night, we fans were treated to the Vulcans playing a playoff-contention ending trick on the visiting Hawks.

On Friday Nov. 3, the final episode of PSAC West season comes to a close as the Vulcans attempt to trip the leviathan of the Mercyhurst Lakers. The Lakers have already clinched the #1 seed in the PSAC West, while the Vulcans sit last. A bonafide stone-slinging David vs club-swinging Goliath clash. The match will kick off at 6:30 p.m. at the Phillipsburg Field.