Sept. 23, 2016
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sept. 23, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Behind a double overtime penalty kick from sophomore Austin Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) the Penn State men's soccer team earned a 2-1 victory over the University of Wisconsin in a Big Ten Conference match Friday, Sept. 23 at Jeffrey Field.
The Nittany Lions (4-3-1, 2-1-0 B1G) picked up their second conference victory of the 2016 season, while the Badgers (3-2-1, 2-1-0 B1G) suffered their first loss in league play. The Blue and White put seven shots on goal compared to Wisconsin's two, while both teams tallied 15 total shots in the match. For Penn State, the match marked the third-straight multi-goal game and the fifth of the season.
Sophomore Dayonn Harris (Ontario, Canada) had two shots on goal for Penn State on three match shots, while A. Maloney scored the golden goal on a penalty kick with two minutes remaining in the second overtime period. Seeing his first minutes since the second match of the season due to injury, senior goalkeeper Evan Finney (San Francisco, Calif.) earned the start making one save and giving up one goal in 108 minutes of action.
Christopher Mueller posted seven of the Badgers' 15 shots on the night, putting two on goal and scoring once. Mueller was the lone Wisconsin player to test Finney in the match as the other eight shots did not reach the net. In goal, Phillip Schilling suffered from an own goal when Sam Brotherton tried to stop a breaking Harris and instead ended up heading the ball into the top left corner of the goal to give Penn State the early 1-0 lead.
Neither Penn State nor Wisconsin were able to find the edge in the first half, heading into the locker room scoreless. The Nittany Lions and the Badgers each attempted seven shots with the Blue and White getting two on goal and UW managing to take just one shot on net.
Penn State's best opportunity came early in the first half when Riley Grant (Copley, Ohio) put a hard shot on goal but the ball was easily stopped by Schilling. The Badgers found back-to-back shots late in the first half that were blocked by the Penn State defense which led to a corner kick. The Nittany Lions used a foul in their own box to earn a goal kick and enter halftime scoreless.
The Blue and White took the 1-0 lead on a Wisconsin miscue in the second half of the match. Freshman Pierre Reedy (Kutztown, Pa.) looked to cross the ball to a breaking Harris but the ball found the head of Brotherton who headed the ball into the top left corner of the net which allowed Penn State to take the 1-0 advantage on a Badger own goal.
Wisconsin knotted the score at 1-1 in the 77th-minute when Nikola Atlija got the ball up to Mueller. Mueller gathered the ball 12-yards out and sent a shot that trickled into the bottom right corner past Finney.
The Nittany Lions nor the Badgers were able to find the game-winner as the Blue and White got set to play its fifth overtime and second double overtime match of the season.
Both sides were battling to find the net but it was the Nittany Lions who would earn the golden opportunity when Wisconsin fouled the Blue and White inside the box. A. Maloney was chosen to take the penalty kick for Penn State, driving it into the middle of the net and securing the Big Ten double overtime win.
The Blue and White will be back in action at Jeffrey Field Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. when it takes on Temple in a non-conference contest.