UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Lightning and storms throughout the State College area forced an early end to Penn State men's soccer's home and season opener against George Mason on Thursday evening at Jeffrey Field. With 85 minutes played, the game officially goes down as a 1-1 draw.
"We are disappointed that we weren't able to finish the complete game due to the lightning in the area tonight," said head coach Jeff Cook. "I felt that in most areas of the game there were a lot of positives to take out of our performance and we created several excellent scoring chances in addition to the great goal we scored in the first half. I'm proud of the way the players handled the uncertainty of the game in the second half, and I thought as a team we worked really hard throughout the 85 minutes we were able to play tonight."
The Nittany Lions (0-0-1, 0-0-0 Big Ten) offense came out of the gates quickly, with senior Danny Bloyou firing off the first shot in the fifth minute, but it went wide left.
Penn State then took four more shots in the following 15 minutes before George Mason (0-0-1, 0-0-0 Atlantic 10) even took its first shot of the game in the 23rd minute.
The offense continued to press the George Mason defense and was able to break them down in the 38th minute with a goal by junior Liam Butts. Classmates Alex Stevenson and Andrew Privett were credited with the assist as Stevenson crossed it into the box from the right side and Privett had a back-heel pass to Butts for the score at the far post.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Owen Elliott made three saves in the first half to keep the visiting Patriots off the scoreboard.
Penn State once again came out firing in the second half with Butts taking a shot on goal 19 seconds in but the Patriots keeper was there for the save.
The two teams traded shots for the next 20 minutes before George Mason tied the game in the 66th minute off a corner kick.
Redshirt senior Pierre Reedy had a great look at net in the 80th minute as his shot went far post before Lee tipped it out of bounds to keep the game tied.
The match was suspended in the 85th minute due to lightning in the area, and with no signs of it letting up, the game was officially called about 40 minutes later.
UP NEXT
Penn State returns to Jeffrey Field on Sunday, Aug. 29 when it takes on Syracuse at 7 p.m. The game will stream live on Big Ten Network+.
GAME NOTES
- Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Owen Elliott made his third career start in net. He recorded a career-high five saves.
- Penn State outshot George Mason, 16-11, and had the advantage in corner kicks, 7-2.
- Freshman midfielder Sean Bettenhausen made his Penn State and collegiate debut in the first half.
- This is the second time in the Jeff Cook era that Penn State has been forced to end a game early due to weather. The last time was on Oct. 22, 2019 against James Madison, also at Jeffrey Field.