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Sept. 2, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's soccer team opened up its 2016 home slate with a 1-0 victory over the James Madison University Dukes Friday, Sept. 2 at Jeffrey Field.
Head coach Bob Warming is now a perfect 7-0 in home openers since arriving at Penn State in the 2010 season and his squads have outscored opponents 10-1 on home opening day. Furthermore, the Nittany Lions have not given up a goal at the home opener since the Warming's inaugural season in 2010 when they defeated Bucknell 2-1.
Penn State (1-1-1) outshot JMU (0-3-0) 17-11 on the night and recorded its first double-digit shot effort of the 2016 campaign. The Nittany Lions put 10 of its 17 shots on goal, while the Dukes had just five shots on goal.
Freshman goalkeeper Arie Ammann (Round Hill, Va.) made his first collegiate start in net for Penn State, playing all 90 minutes with five saves on the night. Senior midfielder Connor Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) scored the 22nd goal of his career and second of the season to lead Penn State to a 1-0 victory over James Madison. C. Maloney had two shots on goal, while senior Riley Grant (Copley, Ohio) had three shots on goal and sophomore Austin Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) put two shots on net for the Blue and White.
The Nittany Lions peppered JMU goalkeeper Kyle Morton with shots as he made eight saves for the Dukes while a team save in the second half made nine total saves for James Madison. Aaron Ward-Baptiste paced the Dukes with four shots, two of which landed on goal, while Thomas Shores, Billy Metzler and Connor Coward each had one shot on goal.
The Nittany Lions saw a huge scoring opportunity in the 12th-minute of the match when a handball inside the box off a free kick gave Penn State the penalty kick opportunity. A shot six yards out from C. Maloney did not cross the goal line as it soared up off the crossbar and kept the game scoreless early in the first half.
The Blue and White put continuous pressure on the Dukes with flawless lead passes on the offensive side of the field throughout the first half of the match but were unable to capitalize on the passing plays remaining at a 0-0 tie with under five minutes to play in the opening 45 minutes.
James Madison looked to take the lead into the locker room on a header off a corner kick with two minutes to play, but Ammann made his third save of the night for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions outshot JMU 7-5 in the first half while Penn State got two shots on goal and Ammann made three saves for the Blue and White.
Penn State came out attacking to open up the second half of play against the Dukes. Sophomore Dayonn Harris (Ontario, Canada) brought the ball up the left side of the field for the Nittany Lions before crossing it into the box for a breaking C. Maloney in the 49th-minute. Morton dove as Maloney broke into the box, but a falling Maloney got his left foot on the ball and drilled it into the bottom of the goal to put the Blue and White up 1-0 over James Madison.
Morton came up big for the Dukes in the 65th-minute of the match making two-straight diving saves in net before the third-straight shot from the Nittany Lions hit the crossbar and rolled out of play to end the Penn State attack.
The Blue and White tried to add one more tally to the score in the closing minute of the match, but Morton got his hands on it as Penn State came away with a 1-0 victory against James Madison.
The Blue and White wrap up Labor Day weekend Monday, Sept. 5 when Oakland comes to Happy Valley for a 7 p.m. contest at Jeffrey Field.