No. 19 Penn State Draws with James Madison as Fog Forces Early EndNo. 19 Penn State Draws with James Madison as Fog Forces Early End
Mark Selders

No. 19 Penn State Draws with James Madison as Fog Forces Early End

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Foggy conditions rolling through Happy Valley forced an early end to Penn State men's soccer's game with James Madison Tuesday evening at Jeffrey Field. With 72 minutes being played, the game officially ended in a 1-1 draw.

"Certainly some strange circumstances tonight with the referee deciding the conditions were unsafe due to the heavy fog," said head coach Jeff Cook. "They felt they couldn't officiate the game and keep the players safe on the field and that's why they decided to end the game. In NCAA soccer, if you play 70 minutes it becomes an official result so tonight we have to settle for a 1-1 tie. I'm disappointed we couldn't finish and see who could win the game, but I thought overall we played really well and created a lot of good scoring opportunities. There is some frustration that we couldn't have converted more of them, but at the end of the day against a highly-rated James Madison team, it's not the worst result in the world."

The 19th-ranked Nittany Lions (8-2-3, 4-1-1 Big Ten) controlled the pace early, firing off four shots in the first seven minutes of action, forcing Dukes' goalkeeper TJ Bush to make three saves.

However, James Madison countered with their own attack and its first shot on net made it past Josh Levine to put the visitors up 1-0 in the 17th minute.

Penn State continued to press with two more good looks at net by Christian Sload and Callum Pritchatt in the 19th minute but Bush was there again to make the saves.

Senior captain Aaron Molloy was finally able to get one past Bush in the 42nd minute after Dax Hoffman crossed it in and Molloy finished with his left foot.


Molloy leads the team and is tied for the conference lead in the goals' category with seven this season.

The Nittany Lions had multiple offensive opportunities to take the lead in the second half, starting with freshman midfielder Andrew Privett's shot in the 56th minute that hit off the left post.

Redshirt junior Pierre Reedy had two good looks of his own but could not convert.

Penn State goalkeeper Josh Levine finished with two saves in the second half.

The game was officially called by the referees in the 72nd minute due to player safety concerns with the heavy fog. With the draw against a receiving-votes James Madison team, Penn State is 2-2-2 with ranked or receiving votes teams in 2019.


Penn State continues its three-game home stand when it welcomes Appalachian State to Jeffrey Field on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.