UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's soccer dropped a road test to Army West Point on Sunday evening at Malek Stadium in West Point, N.Y. Freshman Ben Nash scored in the 85th minute of the outing to prevent the shutout.
Penn State falls to a record of 1-1-0 while Army improves to 1-1-0.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First half
For a second straight game, an early yellow card set the tone for the contest, this time charged to Army in the seventh minute. Defender Ben Liscum earned a caution of his own in the 21st minute.
PSU was held without a shot until the 26th minute, but once the gate was open, Penn State poured on the attack, with the Nittany Lions taking four of the next five shots.
Army found the net to break the tie in the 39th minute, when a ball sent into the box by midfielder Sean Adu-Gyamfi found the head of defender Miles Hadley to put the home team up, 1-0.
Penn State took two more shots to close the frame, but neither resulted in a goal. Some conversations between both sides at the end of the first half resulted in one last first half caution to Army before the benches headed to the locker room.
Second half
Less than two minutes into the second half, Army struck again with a second header, this time coming from midfielder Ronald Zhai off a cross from forward Jubril Bamgbala.
Less than 10 minutes later, Caden Grabfelder received a yellow, which kicked off nine minutes of chaos. At the 62nd minute, Army’s Bamgbala was sent off on a straight red card when he came into a tackle studs up, resulting in 11-on-10 play in favor of the Nittany Lions. Both teams exchanged words after the call, resulting in yellows for both team benches. Grabfelder then received his second yellow less than two minutes later on a tackle, sending him off and leveling the playing field at 10-on-10 for the remainder of the contest.
Army garnered another yellow in the 79th minute, and Kai Phillip earned one the 80th minute. Freddie Bell all-but wrapped up the card dishing in the 84th minute, earning a caution for holding back an Army midfielder.
Freshman Ben Nash got the Nittany Lions on the board with a flick header on the end of a corner kick service from redshirt-sophomore Ben Madore.
Army and PSU each received another caution, with Penn State’s being awarded to freshman Joe Sheridan in the 88th minute, and the closing minute of action wound down without further incident, leading to the Army victory.
OF NOTE
- Nash scored his first collegiate goal in the contest.
- Madore’s assist to Nash was his for 2025, and the third of his career.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions remain on the road this week to take on Syracuse on Thursday, August 28 at SU Soccer Stadium in Syracuse, N.Y. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. on ACCNX.