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Sept. 20, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 13 Penn State men's soccer team played Ohio State to a 1-1 double overtime draw in its second Big Ten Conference match of the 2015 season at Jesse Owen Memorial Stadium Sunday, Sept. 20.
With the tie, the Nittany Lions move to 3-1-2 overall and 1-0-1 in the Big Ten, while the Buckeyes move to 1-4-2 overall and 0-1-1 in conference action.
"We certainly wanted a win, but getting a point on the road in the Big Ten Conference is tough and we came out with a point today," said Head Coach Bob Warming. "It was a tale of two halves, the first half I didn't think we were going to score and the second I thought we were going to score four or five. We had some good chances in the second half to score, but I'm proud of the guys for fighting hard and getting a point on the road here today."
In a match that was tough on both ends with a combined 46 fouls, seven yellow cards and one ejection, Penn State took a season-high 18 shots, three of which were on goal, and redshirt-senior goalkeeper Matt Bersano (Tempe, Ariz.) tied a season-high with seven saves in net. Redshirt-sophomore Sam Bollinger (State College, Pa.) scored the Nittany Lion's lone goal of the match, marking the first of his collegiate career, while four student-athletes played the entire 110 minutes of the match for the Blue and White.
Ohio State had 23 shots, eight of which landed on goal, while Kenny Cunningham scored his first goal of the season for the Buckeyes and goalkeeper Chris Froschauer made two saves on the afternoon.
The Buckeyes were the first to strike in the contest, controlling the ball for much of the first 10 minutes of the match and putting two balls off the post early on. Penn State quickly settled in and was able to find two shots of its own in the opening 15 minutes.
Ohio State continued to attack the net early on when Abdi Mohamed sent the ball into the box from the right side of the field. Kenny Cunningham got his foot on the ball and put a shot off the right post that had the angle it needed to get past Bersano and into the back of the net to allow OSU to take the 1-0 lead in the 17th-minute of the match.
The Nittany Lions found a good opportunity in the 32nd-minute of the match when an Ohio State foul allowed Penn State to get the ball into the box to an open Ibrahima Kouyate (Pittsburgh, Pa.). A falling Kouyate took a shot that went just wide of the goal as the Blue and White trailed the Buckeyes 1-0.
Penn State looked to get on the scoreboard for the second time in the match when Brian James (Sunrise, Fla.) had a free kick just outside the 18-yard box, but the ball sailed just a bit wide as the Nittany Lions were unable to get a shot on net in the 37th-minute.
Much like early in the match, Ohio State controlled the ball in the closing minutes of the half, taking a 1-0 lead into halftime. The Buckeyes had five shots on goal in the first half, while Penn State was unable to put any shots on goal in the first 45 minutes of action. Bersano made four saves, while Riley Grant (Copley, Ohio), Mason Klerks (Corona, Calif.) and Kouyate each had a shot for the Blue and White.
OSU was led by Zach Mason, who had two shots on goal, while Cunningham notched his first goal of the season and Mohamed added an assist for the Buckeyes in the opening half of play.
Penn State opened the second half with a shot, but Ohio State quickly answered back with a shot of its own. The Blue and White earned a corner kick, which was taken by James. As the ball bounced around the box, Bollinger found the ball off the rebound and drove it past the goalkeeper into the upper left side of the net to knot the score at 1-1 in the 57th-minute of the match. The goal marked the first shot on goal for Penn State in the match and the first career goal for Bollinger.
Ohio State tried to take the lead on back-to-back shots in the 71st-minute with the first shot going just wide of the left goal post, while the second sailed over the net, allowing Penn State to remain tied 1-1 in the second half.
Again, the Buckeyes came rushing down the field after a Penn State defensive miscue. OSU's Danny Jensen took a hard shot that was blocked off the leg of Robby Sagel (Las Vegas, Nev.) in the closing 20 minutes of regulation time.
The two teams continued to battle each other as seven yellow cards were issued in 86 minutes before Jensen was given a red card and ejected from the match with just four minutes to play in regulation.
Neither team as able to find the go-ahead goal in the final minutes, sending the Nittany Lions into their second overtime match of the season.
James got Penn State going first in the second half when he got a pass at the top of the box and drilled it at the goal. Ohio States keeper fumbled the ball before bringing it down to make the save for the Buckeyes.
The Nittany Lions struck again when Connor Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) found a shot in front on the net that was saved by Mohamed just before it crossed the goal line as the OSU keeper was out-of-position to make the save.
Despite all the opportunities in the first overtime, Penn State was unable to finish a shot, sending the match into a second sudden-death overtime.
In the late minutes of the second overtime, Ohio State took a shot on net that was saved by a leaping Bersano to keep the match tied with just two minutes remaining in the match.
With two minutes left to play, Penn State was able to get any further offense going as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The Nittany Lions will be back in action Wednesday, Sept. 23 when they travel to Philadelphia, Pa. to take on Penn in a 7 p.m. non-conference match.