| 6 | 2 |
| Jeffrey Field | University Park, Pa. | 853 | |
| MATCH LINKS |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
Sept. 24, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The seventh-ranked Penn State men's soccer team went for an offensive approach to Wednesday night's game at Jeffrey Field, pouncing on the Penn Quakers, 6-2, in the program's 800th victory.
Five Nittany Lions scored the six goals, which were the most by PSU since a 6-3 win over visiting Villanova on Sept. 10, 1999. The goal fest featured a 122-second span early in the second half where two Penn State goals sandwiched Penn's second marker. The Quakers are the first opponent to score on the men's team at Jeffrey Field in 333 days.
"We have a tough, determined group," Penn State Head Coach Bob Warming said. "I think everybody knew at some point that the dam was going to break and we would give up a goal. I think instead of hanging their head they had the completely opposite reaction. They said 'the defense has held us for a long time now, it's our turn to turn it on' and they did just that."
Sophomore forward Connor Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) tallied the middle two goals for Penn State (7-0-1, 2-0-0 Big Ten), including the eventual game-winner, to up his Big Ten-leading total to six goals. Last season the Nittany Lions didn't have a goal scorer over five tallies. Maloney posted a career-high five points on Wednesday.
Mikey Minutillo (San Jose, Calif.) opened the scoring with his fourth of the year less than 10 minutes into the contest. Brandon Savino (Glen Ridge, N.J.) played a short, right-winged cross to Kyle MacDonald (Yardley, Pa.), who flicked on Minutillo as he blasted into the lower left netting from 12 yards out.
In the 15th minute, Penn (3-4-0) responded when Duke Lacroix carved up the seemingly impenetrable Penn State defense and fired his fourth goal of the year to knot the score at one apiece.
Lacroix's goal snapped PSU's home shutout streak of 614 minutes and 49 seconds that stretched to Oct. 27, 2013 against Northwestern. For the season, Penn State had held opponents scoreless at Jeffrey Field all season. The Nittany Lions shutout streak dating back to the JMU game on Sept. 5 was ended at 306 minutes, 35 seconds.
Penn State fought back quickly though as 90 seconds later, Maloney played wide to a streaking Savino who charged into the penalty area and rifled a shot into the top corner from a tight angle for the 2-1 lead.
Maloney would score his first of the night at the 32:32 mark by collecting a poor clearance from Penn's Max Polkinhorne (two saves), volleying home a beautiful effort from the top of the box, doubling the lead to 3-1.
After halftime the scoring continued in rapid succession. Maloney took a through ball from Brian James (Sunrise, Fla.) and slotted his sixth of the year for a 4-1 lead in the 50th minute.
Seventy-four seconds later, Penn's Alec Neumann tallied an unassisted goal to cut the lead to 4-2.
Just 78 seconds after that, James lofted a perfectly placed cross from the right wing to Drew Klingenberg (Gibsonia, Pa.) waiting on the corner of the goal box. His header went over Polkinhorne into the right-side netting for the 5-2 advantage in the 53rd minute.
Penn looked to fight back from there as three successive shots between the 80th and 82nd minutes of play were stopped by Andrew Wolverton (Atlanta, Ga.). Lacroix and Neumann had point-blank efforts saved, while a Lacroix breakaway was also knocked away by the 6-6 netminder.
Wolverton sits on 28 career shutouts, one shy of the Penn State record, but recorded a season-high eight saves. Seven of his eight saves came in the second half as Penn out-shot Penn State, 11-7. Wolverton improved to 6-0-0.
Penn State's scoring spree ended when Riley Grant (Copley, Ohio) scored his first collegiate goal in the 89th minute. Randy Falk (Tewksbury Township, N.J.) sent a cross that found Grant open on the right wing as he drove past his defender and put one past backup goalie Nick Savino (two saves) near post from 17 yards.
MATCH NOTES
• Penn State scored first for the eighth straight game this year. The Nittany Lions have scored in all eight games and have not trailed all season.
• Penn State improved to 24-6-3 all-time against Penn, beating the Quakers for the fifth straight match.
• The 7-0-1 start is the second best eight-game start for PSU in the Big Ten era. The 1999 team went 8-0-0, while the 1994 and 2014 teams have each gone 7-0-1.
• Penn State improved to 220-46-24 all-time against Division I teams from Pennsylvania for a winning percentage of .800. One more Keystone State foe remains for the Nittany Lions: Bucknell on Oct. 1.
• Penn State won its 312th game all-time at Jeffrey Field, improving to 312-77-35 (.778). Penn State is 6-0-0 this season, 14-1-1 since 2013 and 21-3-3 since 2012 at Jeffrey Field. Penn State has won nine straight games at Jeffrey Field
• Penn gave up six goals in a game for the first time since Sept. 3, 2007 against Seton Hall.
• Penn State's Big Ten-leading goal differential was pushed to +14 on Wednesday. The Nittany Lions have out-scored their opponents, 17-3.
• the last time Penn State won by four or more goals was a 4-0 win at Denver on Sept. 19, 2010 in Bob Warming's first year. The six goals are the most in the Warming era (5-0 win vs. Buffalo in his first game; Sept. 3, 2010).
NEXT MATCH
The Nittany Lions hit the road for the first time since Sept. 8 when they take on Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Sunday, Sept. 28 match will kick-off at 2 p.m. and will televise live on Big Ten Network.