Sept. 16, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State men's soccer continued its winning ways at home, downing Adelphi, 3-0, at Jeffrey Field Sunday afternoon. Mikey Minutillo, Daniel Burnham and Kelton Cheney each tallied a goal for the Nittany Lions (5-1-1) in the win over the Panthers (1-6-0).
Penn State now turns its gaze to the Big Ten schedule with a Sept. 21 match with Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., before returning to Pennsylvania to take on Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa., Sept. 25. The Lions' next home game is set for Sept. 29, when the team hosts Indiana.
The afternoon was a remarkable one for Penn State. Minutillo's (San Jose, Calif.) first-half goal was his first as a Nittany Lion, while freshman Cheney's (State College, Pa.) score marked the first of his collegiate career. In addition, redshirt-freshman Kyle MacDonald (Yardley, Pa.) earned his first collegiate point with an assist on Cheney's scoring play. Goalkeeper Danny Sheerin (College Park, Md.), also a redshirt-freshman, logged his first minutes in goal for the Nittany Lions after relieving Emmanuel Martin (Cormontreuil, France) with nine minutes remaining. In all, a season-high 23 Nittany Lions recorded time on the field against the Panthers.
Martin snagged a pair of saves in the shutout, his second and the team's fifth of the season. The Frenchman improved his record to 4-1-0 after guarding the goal for just over 80 minutes against Adelphi. Penn State claimed the advantage in shots, 17-6, and corner kicks, 7-0, while holding possession for much of the contest.
Minutillo put the Nittany Lions on the scoreboard in the 27th minute, beating Adelphi keeper Ahmad Salamah from the right side of the box. Julian Cardona (Lincoln, Neb.) took possession of the ball on the counterattack near midfield and connected with Minutillo, who finished the play to give Penn State the lead.
Burnham added to the scoring in the 38th minute, heading Minh Vu's (Tuscon, Ariz.) 35-yard free kick from the left side of the field past Salamah. The goal was the second of the season for Burnham.
Cheney narrowly missed his first collegiate goal after sending a shot just inches wide of the right post in the 58th minute. Cheney remained relentless on the attack, taking a pass from MacDonald 14 yards out and sending a shot to the left corner of the net in the 67th minute to a loud applause from the crowd.
The Lions opened the first half with aggressive offensive play. Minutillo created the first dangerous chance of the game in the 15th minute, feeding a ball to Vu near the left side of the penalty area. Vu made solid contact on the shot, but pushed it a few feet wide of the cage. Minutillo flashed his passing skills again eight minutes later, connecting with Burnham, who forced Salamah to meet him near the edge of the box to make the save.