UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's soccer team (5-1-0, 5-1-0 Big Ten) shut out the Ohio State Buckeyes (3-3-1, 3-3-1 Big Ten), 1-0 at Jeffrey Field Tuesday evening, for its third-straight win and its second-straight shutout.
"We are absolutely thrilled to win today's Big Ten game at Jeffrey Field," said head coach Jeff Cook. "I thought it was a very hard-fought match. Ohio State gave us everything we could handle, especially in the first half, but I give our players a lot of credit for getting ahold of the pace of game. I thought before halftime came we started to take advantage of some opportunities, created some goal-scoring moments, and in the second half we were really good in terms of creating chances. So I'm delighted with the effort and concentration that our players displayed…a great victory today for us."
The first half was scoreless between the two teams as the Buckeyes held the slight advantage in shots, 5-4.
Ohio State took the first two shots on frame in the opening 45, but sophomore goalkeeper Kris Shakes was there for the saves.
Redshirt sophomore Josh Dabora took a shot on target for the Nittany Lions in the 26th minute but Buckeye keeper Noah Lawrence made the save to keep the home team out of the back of the net.
As the second 45 began, Ohio State earned a free kick that was taken by Thomas Gilej but Shakes made the jumping save in the center frame.
Penn State earned a corner kick in the 73rd minute that was taken by junior Seth Kuhn and after the ball was kicked out of the box back out to Kuhn, he passed it right back in to find freshman Peter Mangione in the six who finished it with his right foot and slotted in in the lower-left corner for the eventual game-winning goal.
75' | GOOOOAAALLLLLLLL!!!!
— Penn State Men's Soccer (@PennStateMSOC) March 23, 2021
Peter Mangione from Seth Kuhn!! Penn State leads 1-0!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/XEPIh4ls69
The Buckeyes took two shots on net in the final five minutes to try to find the equalizer but the Nittany Lion defense did a good job to control the game to maintain the shutout.
Shakes finished with five saves and moved to 4-0-0 in net this season.
UP NEXT
Penn State stays in Happy Valley to host the Wisconsin Badgers in the final home game of the regular season at Jeffrey Field on Saturday, March 27. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. and will stream live on Big Ten Network+. It is also Senior Day, presented by the Penn State Alumni Association, as Penn State is set to honor Dax Hoffman, Jose Palomeque and Nicholas Rieple.
GAME NOTES
- Freshman Peter Mangione scored his third goal of the season and his third game-winning goal of the season. He leads the conference in that category.
- Sophomore goalkeeper Kris Shakes recorded his second-straight shutout of the season. He's had two-straight shutouts twice in his career now, doing so last season against Stetson (9/8/19) and Villanova (9/13/19).
- Penn State moved to 5-1-2 in the annual Mack Brady Match. The defense has recorded shutouts in two consecutive Mack Brady games now after a 0-0 draw against Michigan last season.
- The Nittany Lions picked up their third consecutive win over the Buckeyes and moved to 5-1-0 on the season.