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| Jeffrey Field | University Park, Pa. | 377 | |
| MATCH LINKS |
Play-by-Play |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
Nov. 20, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Two second half goals, capped off by Penn State sophomore Brett Gravatt's first of the season proved to be the difference as the Nittany Lions men's soccer team (13-5-1) defeated Hartwick (6-10-4), Thursday night at Jeffrey Field. Gravatt's score came in the 74th minute as both teams were tied at one apiece when the midfielder curled a shot into the top left corner of the net, sending the Lion bench and the fans at Jeffrey Field into a frenzy.
The score by Gravatt (Dunn Loring, Va.) was the second Penn State goal in a 14 minute stretch, after the Hawks took a 1-0 lead early in the second half. PSU's first score came off the foot of senior Mikey Minutillo (San Jose, Calif.), who took a pass from Drew Klingenberg (Gibsonia, Pa.) and squibbed the ball past Hawks' goalie Tom Buckner to even the match at 1-1.
The Lions had a man advantage over the Hawks for the better part of the second half, after Hartwick's Jamie O'Grady received his second yellow card of the contest following some extra-curricular activity on the sidelines. The ejection came in the 64th minute and Gravatt's goal followed ten minutes later.
Hartwick scored their lone goal less than a minute into the second half, when striker Jhevaughn Beckford snuck one past Lion keeper Andrew Wolverton (Atlanta, Ga.) to make it 1-0. Wolverton finished the night with one save to push his season total to 56.
The Lions are now headed to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they will take on No. 9 seed Syracuse, Sunday, Nov. 23 in New York. For head coach Bob Warming, it's the second straight season his Penn State squad has marched on to the second round of the 48-team field.
POST MATCH NOTES
--PSU is now 28-30-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament
--The Lions have won three straight postseason matches at Jeffrey Field
--Brett Gravatt became the 11th different Penn State player to score this season
POST MATCH QUOTES
Sophomore Brett Gravatt
On his game winning goal...
"I think one of my strengths is one v. one so I like to go at people and play to my right... I was able to beat him (the Hartwick defender) inside, got the shot off and was lucky it went in."
Senior Mikey Minutillo
On his game tying goal...
"To be honest I was a little doubtful that it was going to go in because that center back came in sliding and he got a piece of it actually, but luckily it had enough pace. When it was rolling in though, I just wanted it to go faster and faster."
On the physical play of the match
"I don't think they (Hartwick) were as technical was were so they were trying to make up for that by being super aggressive and getting us out of our game but I don't think it worked too well. They got that first goal but we just kept playing."