UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – After going down a goal early, the Penn State men's soccer scored three unanswered goals to take down American, 3-1, Monday evening at Jeffrey Field.
"I'm delighted to get a victory in front of another outstanding crowd at Jeffrey Field," said head coach Jeff Cook. "I thought the response to going behind was first class from our guys to control the first half and get ourselves back in front, and then a terrific goal for Danny Bloyou to open his scoring count for this year. I'm really happy that we got through – I thought we had some moments that were a little too nervy late on in terms of American creating some chances to score, but once again Kris Shakes comes up big when we needed him most. I think it's a well-earned victory and I think we deserved to win tonight, but certainly some things we can learn from tonight's game."
As in many games, the first 10 or so minutes of the match was about establishing play, with both teams trading a shot off target.
American (1-2-0, 0-0-0 Patriot League) then got on the board first after a Nittany Lion turnover in the Eagles' offensive zone made for an easy goal for the visitors to go up 1-0 in the 13th minute.
American then took two more shots on net in the next seven minutes but junior goalkeeper Kris Shakes was there for both saves to keep the Nittany Lions only down one.
Penn State (2-1-1, 0-0-0 Big Ten) was pretty quickly able to find the equalizer in the 21st minute. A cross was sent in to the box and sent back out by an American defender before landing at the feet of senior Seth Kuhn who took a strike with his left foot that went to the far-post side of the six and was finished to the back of the net by junior Andrew Privett for his second goal of the season.
Less than a minute later, the Nittany Lions took the lead on a goal from sophomore Peter Mangione. In the run of play after a free kick, sophomore defender Femi Awodesu out-played an American defender and his pass ricocheted off another visiting player and to the back foot of Mangione who heel-kicked it in for his second goal of the season.
Both teams continued to battle through the next 25 minutes of the first half, but the Nittany Lions would hold on to a 2-1 lead after the first 45. At the break, Penn State held an advantage in shots, 9-6, and corner kicks, 5-2.
As the second half started, Penn State looked ready to put an insurance goal on the board, with two shots in the first seven minutes on frame that had to be saved by the Eagles goalkeeper.
In the 55th minute, junior Alex Stevenson played a ball to Kuhn outside the left side of the box in which Kuhn crossed in to find the diving head of senior Danny Bloyou to give the home team a 3-1 advantage. It marked Bloyou's first goal of the year.
Down two, the Eagles kept pressing looking to get back in the game, with multiple counterattacks that were eventually broken down by Penn State to keep its multi-goal lead. American would end up outshooting Penn State, 8-7, in the second half.
Shakes finished with five saves in the match, including a crucial one coming off his line in the final minutes.
UP NEXT
Penn State has matches with two in-state rivals next week, starting in Philadelphia on Friday, Sept. 10 at UPenn. The Nittany Lions then return home for a huge Monday night game against Pittsburgh on Sept. 13, live on FS1.
GAME NOTES
- Sophomore Peter Mangione netted his second game-winning goal of the season and the sixth of his career.
- Senior Seth Kuhn recorded his second multi-assist game of the season.
- Sophomore Femi Awodesu registered his first career assist on Mangione's goal.
- Penn State scored three goals for the second time this season, with all three goals coming from different goal scorers, just like against Syracuse.