Aug. 16, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's soccer team picked up its first win of the preseason with a 1-0 victory over Drexel Thursday night at Jeffrey Field. Freshman Drew Klingenberg (Gibsonia, Pa.) supplied the gamewinner for the Nittany Lions in the 80th minute of the 105-minute contest, helped by an assist from senior Jacob Barron (La Mirada, Calif.). The teams played a 45-minute first period and a pair of 30-minute stanzas.
The squad next travels to take on No. 9 Maryland at 7:30 p.m. Monday. Penn State recorded a scoreless draw against Hartwick in the team's first preseason game Aug. 13. The Nittany Lions open the regular season with a three-game homestand against Stetson Aug. 25, Hartford Aug. 27 and Duquesne Aug. 31.
The Lions claimed a 19-6 advantage in shots against the Dragons, as well as a 7-4 lead in corners. Penn State posted four shots on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton (Snellville, Ga.) earned the shutout with three saves, including two in the final 30 minutes to ensure the victory.
After a quiet opening 45 minutes that saw a combined five shots from both teams, Penn State opened up on offense and recorded 12 shots in the second period, including Klingenberg's goal. Just seconds into the 80th minute, midfielder Barron picked up a ball at midfield and fired a pass to Klingenberg on the right wing before freshman sent the ball back to Barron at the edge of the penalty area. From there the senior found Klingenberg breaking inside where the rookie midfielder placed a shot past outstretched Drexel goalkeeper Pentti Pussinen.
The goal came 10 minutes after junior Mikey Minutillo (San Jose, Calif.) was denied a score of his own. Minutillo took a pass from Julian Cardona (Lincoln, Neb.) a dozen yards from the goal and appeared to have Pussinen beaten, but the keeper was able to deflect the ball enough to slow its path before it eventually stopped three feet short of the line.
Drexel created a few offensive opportunities in the third period, creating three corner kicks in a three-minute span. Senior defender Brian Forgue (Glenmoore, Pa.) cleared the first before freshman Kelton Cheney (State College, Pa.) blasted the ball from the box on the second. The Dragons nearly evened the score with the third chance as senior Ben Miller made contact on a header in the front of the net but the midfielder just pushed it above the bar.
Penn State head coach Bob Warming continued to infuse youth into the lineup with 22 players spending time on the pitch.