UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's soccer earned a gritty win in the 2020-21 season opener, besting Maryland, 3-2, Friday night in Holuba Hall. Freshman Peter Mangione recorded three points in his debut with one goal and one assist to lead all players.
"I'm absolutely thrilled with tonight's win over an outstanding Maryland team," said head coach Jeff Cook. "I could not be prouder of the effort of our group. It was an unbelievable start to the game – fantastic goals, contributions from all across our squad – so what a start. I would also like to stress that we played tonight in honor of Penn State, our alumni, our fans, our community members, especially for all the Penn State staff who have made tonight possible. It was fantastic amidst these challenging times to have our guys play a game against a fabulous opponent in Maryland. I'm delighted to come out with a first victory in the Big Ten season."
After 453 days without a game, the No. 23 Nittany Lions (1-0-0, 1-0-0 Big Ten) came out strong offensively in the first half, putting up three goals on the No. 21 Terrapins (0-1-0, 0-1-0 Big Ten) in the first 35 minutes.
Sophomore Andrew Privett got Penn State on the board first at 5:19. Freshman Peter Mangione stole the ball away from a Maryland defender in the Nittany Lions' offensive zone and then passed it to Privett at the top-right of the box who took a quick, low shot to get to the left corner of the net.
Maryland had a good chance to make it a tie game 18 minutes in as the Terrapins were awarded a penalty kick after redshirt senior Brandon Hackenberg got carded for a foul in the box. Brayan Padilla's shot went wide-left and Penn State clung to a 1-0 lead.
Redshirt senior Pierre Reedy quickly made it 2-0 Penn State with an absolute rocket of a shot from outside of the box at 25:05.
Mangione then continued the scoring frenzy with his first career goal at 34:23 to give the Nittany Lions a three-goal advantage. The play was set up by sophomore defender Jalen Watson who sent a ball into the box from the left corner of the field and junior transfer Daniel Bloyou headed the ball to Mangione who snuck it past a Maryland defender into the net.
The Terrapins got on the board with about six to play in the half after sophomore Alex Stevenson was carded in the Nittany Lions' defensive box to set up another penalty kick opportunity for the visitors. This time Joe Suchecki snuck it past sophomore goalkeeper Kris Shakes to make it 3-1 Penn State.
Maryland seemed to make some adjustments at the break as they came into the second half strong and controlled possession and pace.
They got within a goal at the 73:22 mark as Jacen Russell-Rowe rocketed a shot to make the game interesting.
Penn State was able to hang on as Shakes made four saves in the second half for his victory in between the pipes.
UP NEXT
Penn State travels to Piscataway, N.J. for its first road game of the season at Rutgers on Tuesday, Feb. 23. The game is slated for a noon kickoff.
GAME NOTES
- Freshman Peter Mangione led all scorers with three points (1G, 1A) in his Penn State debut.
- Junior transfer Daniel Bloyou and freshman Femi Awodesu also made their Penn State debuts and Bloyou registered an assist.
- Redshirt senior Pierre Reedy scored his first goal since his freshman season in 2016. He missed the 2017 and 2018 seasons due to injury.
- Penn State earned it's second-straight win over a ranked Terrapins squad after beating Maryland in overtime last season. This is the first time since 2004-05 that the Nittany Lions have picked up back-to-back ranked wins over Maryland.
- Penn State scored three goals in a half. The Nittany Lions also did so twice during the 2019 season: at Stony Brook (9/2/19 – second half) and vs. App State (10/25/19 – second half).
- Penn State and Maryland will meet again later this season on March 31 in College Park, Md. on the back half of a home-and-home.