GREENVILLE — Slippery Rock was determined to remain aggressive on both ends of the field Monday afternoon.

That approach paid off handsomely for the Rockets.

Goals by Nick Stutz and Ryan Davey were successfully upheld by goalkeeper Collin Griffith, who came off his line a number of times to thwart North East's potential scoring opportunities in a 2-0 District 10 Class AA boys soccer quarterfinal victory at Greenville High School's Stewart Field.

The Rockets (16-3) will face Mercyhurst Prep, a 4-0 winner over Titusville, in a semifinal Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

Griffith was forced to make just three saves Monday, though his willingness to leave his own net was a big reason for the lack of shots from the Grape Pickers (8-8-3).

After Stutz's goal on a free kick from 35 yards out in the fourth minute of play, Griffith began to frustrate North East's attack.

He charged 20 yards from the net in the eighth minute to deflect a shot by Matt Wedzik. Three minutes later, he moved to his left and blocked a centering pass by challenging Garret Kopp. Griffith later ventured 15 yards out and secured a ball to halt a rush in which North East had an edge in numbers.

“When we play better teams like Hickory, we have to stay back a bit,” said Griffith. “North East has a lot of speed, more than most teams we've played, but they don't have as much control on the outside.”

“Against a goalkeeper like that, you try to not play so deep in the box and work things more toward the middle,” said North East coach Brian Kramer.

It wasn't just Griffith's style of play that affected the game, as Slippery Rock coach Kyle Hopkins related.

“Their players were trying to tell one of their guys where to shoot right before a free kick,” he explained. “He said, 'I can't shoot against a 7-foot goalkeeper.'”

That was a bit of an exaggeration. Griffith stands 6-4, but his height definitely played a role in the shutout.

Kopp was a focus of the Slippery Rock defense.

The junior striker had potential scoring opportunities snuffed out to the left of the net by Rocket defenders Georgie Cupec and Chase Wolinski, respectively, in a one-minute span of the second half.

“We saw their game Thursday (a 2-1 first-round win against Sharon) and noticed that their defenders like to play long balls to him (Kopp),” said Hopkins. “We had to watch where he was at all times and our defense did a great job.”

Also starting in the back for the Rockets were Ryan Sproat and Chase Gill.

While North East tried in vain to get on the scoreboard, its defense had its own worries.

Despite leading 1-0 at intermission, the Rockets took Hopkins' halftime talk to heart.

“I told the guys that we needed to play like we were down 1-0,” he said. “We needed to have the mentality that we needed to score.”

That mind-set had the field tilted in Slippery Rock's favor for much of the second half and it eventually led to a second goal in the 65th minute.

Stutz's free kick from 25 yards was initially stopped by the Grape Pickers (8-8-3), but an inability to fully clear the ball allowed Davey to score from the same distance as his shot sailed past goalkeeper Colin Watts.

In a Class AAA quarterfinal, Grove City fell 2-1 to Central Tech.

The Eagles' lone score was an own-goal charged against the Falcons.

Grove City ends the season with an overall record of 10-7-2.