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Sept. 23, 2015
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Junior Connor Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) lifted the No. 21 Penn State men's soccer team to a 2-0 road victory over Penn in a mid-week non-conference match Wednesday, Sept. 23.
With the win, the Nittany Lions improve to 4-1-2 overall on the season and 1-1-1 on the road, while the Quakers fall to 0-5-1 overall.
Penn State was led by C. Maloney who took a season-high five shots, four of which landed on goal and scored two goals for the Blue and White, while true freshman Austin Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) had the Nittany Lions final shot on net. Redshirt-senior goalkeeper Matt Bersano (Tempe, Ariz.) faced just one shot on net, while the stellar Penn State defense blocked nine shots from getting to the goal.
Alec Neumann led the Quaker offense with three shots, while Jerel Blades had Penn's lone shot on goal. Goalkeeper Nick Savino made three saves on the evening, while the Quakers had 11 corner shots compared to Penn State's three.
The Blue and White capitalized on its first opportunity of the night when C. Maloney was awarded a penalty kick in the second minute of the match. The junior lined up for the shot, which was saved by Savino. The keeper left the rebound out of reach and allowed C. Maloney to get control and net his second goal of the season to give Penn State the early 1-0 lead.
C. Maloney notched his third goal of the season 14 minutes later when he took a few touches 25-yards out before driving the ball into the far left corner of the net, extending the Nittany Lion lead to 2-0 in the first 16 minutes of play.
Penn tried to get a bit of offense going in the 29th-minute of the match, but the Blue and White defense stayed strong in front of Bersano, blocking both shots. Bersano made his first save of the match in the 34th-minute before C. Maloney received a pass up the field and put his third shot on net in the first half of play.
The Quakers were unable to generate any further offense in the opening half as the NIttany Lions took a 2-0 lead into the locker room. Penn State was led by C. Maloney, who scored two goals and put four shots on net for the Blue and White, while Bersano made one save.
Penn had just one shot on net, but had three corner kicks compared to Penn State's zero, while Savino made two saves in the first 45 minutes of play.
The Quakers were the first to get a shot in the second half, but the Nittany Lion defense secured two more blocked shots to start the second half, bringing their tally to five in the first 61 minutes of action.
Penn State saw an opportunity to add a third goal in the in the 70th-minute when they earned a corner kick, but a shot from Mason Klerks (Corona, Calif.) sailed just wide of the net.
Penn against tried to generate some offense late in the second half, but for the second-straight time, the Blue and White defense blocked back-to-back shots. The Quakers had a second opportunity in the 79th-minute with two-straight corner kicks, but the Penn State backline prevented any scoring opportunities for the Quaker offense.
In the closing minutes, Penn had one final shot that was blocked, securing the 2-0 Penn State victory. The shutout marked the fourth of the season for Bersano and the first road win of 2015 for the Blue and White.
The Nittany Lions return to Jeffrey Field Sunday, Sept. 27 when they take on the University of Michigan at 2 p.m. The match will honor student assistant coach Brett Gravatt and all Ability Athletes in a special halftime presentation.