UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's soccer (8-5-1, 4-1-0 Big Ten) dropped a close match to the visiting Indiana Hoosiers (9-3-1, 4-2-0 Big Ten), 1-0, Sunday afternoon at Jeffrey Field live on Big Ten Network.
"I'm really proud of the effort the team put forward today," said head coach Jeff Cook. "Difficult conditions with the wind but I thought in the first half we created a lot of good chances. It was terribly unlucky to concede the goal in that manner – that's part of the game sometimes. But you could see our resilience trying to get back in the game late. Although we're disappointed to not come out on top today, we also understand there's a long way to go in the season and all our goals are still in front of us. So, we'll bounce back and get ready for Ohio State in a difficult road trip. There's a lot to be proud of today, would've loved to win the game, but again this is a long season and we'll fight right until the very end."
In blustery conditions in Happy Valley, the Nittany Lions played with the wind in the first half and were able to get five of their six shots on frame but the Hoosiers' goalkeeper Roman Celentano played lights out in order to keep the home team out of the back of the net.
Senior Danny Bloyou took Penn State's first shot on target in the 24th minute. Junior Liam Butts had one in the 33rd minute that was again saved by Celentano.
In the 37th minute, sophomore Tyger Evans came off the bench and hit a rocket of a shot on the left-side of the box that was punch-saved by Celentano before Butts tried on the rebound but was again denied by the keeper.
On the other end, junior goalkeeper Kris Shakes made some great saves for Penn State, with four in the first half to keep a dangerous Indiana offense out of the net.
Sophomore Peter Mangione had his shot on goal saved in the 42nd minute as the teams would head to the break with a 0-0 score.
Out of the break, senior Seth Kuhn and junior Andrew Privett both had decent chances within the first five minutes, but Kuhn would get blocked and Privett would see his strike go wide right.
Indiana seemed to take advantage of Penn State's struggles playing into the wind in the second half, controlling possession and taking five shots in the next 20 minutes, however none of which were on target.
In the 75th minute, the Hoosiers had a cross into the box that took an extremely unfortunate skip off redshirt senior Brandon Hackenberg's head and into the goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The Nittany Lions would furiously search to find the equalizer in the remaining 15 minutes but would come up just short to result in their first conference loss this season.
Penn State still remains in a tie for first in the league with Indiana at 12 points each with three Big Ten games left on the schedule.
Postgame, the Penn State program honored its five seniors in a Senior Day ceremony, presented by the Penn State Alumni Association: Danny Bloyou, Seth Kuhn, Adam Laundree, Alex Morgret, and Keegan Ness.
UP NEXT
Penn State hits the road to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday, Oct. 22. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will stream live on B1G+.
