Oct. 4, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's soccer team emphatically snapped a four-game winless streak on Tuesday, claiming a key 2-0 victory over Penn (5-4-1) on a much-welcomed but rare rainless night at Jeffrey Field. With the win, the Nittany Lions finish out their 2011 non-conference home schedule unbeaten with a 5-0-1 record.
Under cloudy but dry Happy Valley skies for the first time on a game day since August, Penn State (6-3-2) got goals from juniors Jacob Barron (La Mirada, Calif.) and Julian Cardona (Lincoln, Neb.) to break out of a 0-2-2 stretch that spanned the last two-plus weeks. Junior John Gallagher (Pine Bush, N.Y.) assisted on both goals for his first two points of the 2011 season.
Freshman goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton (Snellville, Ga.) registered five saves en route to his eighth shutout of the season, moving him into within two of tying the Penn State single season record held by Angelo Nickas (1980), Whit Gibson (1998), and Conrad Taylor (2005).
Penn State struck quickly, staking a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute. Barron became the sixth Nittany Lion to record a game winner this season, unleashing a blast from the top of the 18-yard that deflected off a Penn defender and into the lower corner of the net. The goal by Barron, who transferred from UC Davis in January, was his first as a Nittany Lion.
Penn applied constant offensive pressure throughout the first half but was not able to break through, thanks much in part to brilliant goalkeeper play by Wolverton. One of Wolverton's four first half saves came in the 29th minute when he aggressively came off his line to stem a run by Penn's Duke Lacroix, who had weaved his way through the Penn State defense and was on the verge of getting off a solid shot. However, Wolverton's quick action allowed him to take the ball off Lacroix's foot before he could swing through.
After earning a lead and weathering the Penn attacking storm through the first 45 minutes, Penn State settled in and played one of its best halves of the season. Cardona came off the bench and provided a spark offensively while the Nittany Lion back line came together to allow the Quakers' just one second half shot on goal.
Cardona put Penn State up 2-0 early on, netting his team-high third goal of the season in the 52nd minute. Gallagher crossed a picture-perfect pass from the near wing to the back post, targeting Cardona. Shaking loose from his mark, Cardona jumped high in the air and headed in a rocket from 10 yards out to the upper corner of the goal. Penn State's scoring chances didn't end there. Barron nearly provided the Nittany Lions with a three-goal advantage just five minutes later. After junior Hasani Sinclair (Coral Gables, Fla.) blocked a Penn free kick attempt, he raced downfield on the counterattack. Spotting Barron on a run down the middle of the field, Sinclair found him with a pretty touch pass. However, Barron's arcing, bending shot from 20 yards out sailed just inches high and wide.
In the 70th minute, Cardona had an excellent opportunity to net his second goal of the game but his chip shot over a sliding save attempt from Penn goalkeeper Max Kurtzman didn't have enough on it and a hustling Quaker defender was able to kick it off the line.
Penn State begins a two-game road stretch this Sunday when it visits East Lansing for a key Big Ten clash with Michigan State (3-6-2, 0-1-1). Game time is set for 12 p.m. at the Spartans' DeMartin Soccer Complex. The match will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
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