The Penn State men’s soccer team advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten Men’s Soccer Tournament by mounting an exciting second-half comeback against Northwestern on Thursday night.

The Nittany Lions dominated the action early, but they could not put a serious effort on net. As the first half went on, Northwestern started playing better and scored first with 52 seconds left. The goal dampened the spirit of the crowd and threatened to end Penn State’s season.

The second half saw plenty of action as Penn State scrambled to find a goal and Northwestern fought hard defensively. The Nittany Lions were getting chances, but they could not score. That all changed in the 74th minute when junior Corey Hertzog weaved his way through defenders and scored to tie the game up at one.

The goal seemed to ignite the Penn State offense, and they put pressure on the Northwestern net for the remainder of the match. In the 85th minute, freshman Jordan Tyler scored off of a great cross to put the Nittany Lions in the lead. Then, just three minutes later, Hertzog scored his second goal of the game, and 16th of the season, to put the match to rest.

Thanks to the 3-1 comeback victory, Penn State has now advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals. The Nittany Lions will take on Indiana in a rematch of a controversial 3-2 Indiana victory from earlier this season. In other Big Ten action, Michigan beat in-state rivals Michigan State 2-1 to advance to play Wisconsin in the semifinals. Wisconsin battled Ohio State to a 0-0 draw before winning in a penalty kick shootout.

Upcoming schedule–Big Ten Tournament Semifinals held at Penn State:

Friday:
#3 Michigan vs. #7 Wisconsin, 1 p.m.
#1 Indiana vs. #4 Penn State, 3:30 p.m.