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| UNIVERSITY PARK | Harrisonburg, Va. | 452 | |
| MATCH LINKS |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
Sept. 8, 2014
HARRISONBURG, Va. - The No. 16 Penn State men's soccer squad played one of the more peculiar matches in school history Monday evening, drawing 1-1 with James Madison despite playing at least a man down for more than half the match.
"I'm so proud of our guys digging in, battling every single minute while two men down," Head coach Bob Warming said. "Sometimes unjust things happen to you collectively and individually. The response from our players to the situation presented to them was inspiring to be a part of as a coach and fan of this terrific group of young men."
Sophomore Connor Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) scored his fourth goal of the year to put Penn State (3-0-1) ahead, 1-0. Maloney tapped home a Mikey Minutillo's (San Jose, Calif.) header that caromed off the cross bar in the 11th minute. Minutillo was served a cross by Drew Klingenberg (Gibsonia, Pa.).
The game seemed to be in control for the Nittany Lions until a near breakaway opportunity for James Madison (1-2-1) resulted in Andrew Wolverton's (Atlanta, Ga.) first red card for handling the ball outside the penalty area and denying a goal-scoring opportunity. Wolverton's sending off left the Lions with just 10 men in the 54th minute.
On the resulting free kick, JMU's Rhys Howard was denied by Minutillo on the line to keep the score at 1-0.
Twenty-three minutes later, a JMU free kick played into the penalty area resulted in a foul by Mark Wadid (Mississauga, Ontario), giving the Dukes a free kick in the 78th minute. Wadid was shown red for his foul as the Nittany Lions were reduced to nine on the field.
The ensuing penalty kick by Josh Grant was saved by reserve goalkeeper Evan Finney (San Francisco, Calif.), who made his first appearance for the Blue and White. Finney finished the game with four saves in his debut.
Penn State continued to withstand the mounting pressure by James Madison, but couldn't hold out in the final three minutes. Off a throw-in, Joe Vyner was able to volley a shot past Finney with just 2:14 remaining for his second goal of the year and level the score.
In the overtime periods, JMU out-shot Penn State 3-2 each stanza as the Dukes earned a 21-18 margin in shots. Penn State went into halftime up 10-3 in the statistic.
The physical game had seven cards shown by the official. Penn State earned two reds and two yellows, while JMU picked up three yellows.
GAME NOTES
-- Connor Maloney has four of Penn State's six goals this year. His goal on Monday was the third time he's scored in four matches and the fifth time in the last nine matches dating to last season.
-- Maloney leads the Big Ten in scoring this season.
-- Penn State's shutout streak to end the season nearly reached four games. Nevertheless, it held opponents scoreless for 357 minutes and 46 seconds this year.
-- Despite a combined 900 career wins between the two head coaches, Monday's game ended in a draw. JMU leads the all-time series 3-1-2 against the Nittany Lions.
-- Wolverton and Wadid will be suspended for the next match at Indiana. Wolverton has yet to allow a goal this year in 323 minutes of action. Wadid failed to record an assist in a game for the first time this season Monday night.
NEXT MATCH
The Nittany Lions open Big Ten play on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. showdown at Indiana. The Hoosiers are 3-0-1 after defeating Dartmouth on Monday afternoon and have won three straight games.