“I wasn’t going to play him tonight,” Coach Bob Warming said.

Aymar Sigue, the overtime goalscorer in last night’s win over Oakland, wasn’t even in the country — let alone State College — as of Sunday. The junior forward had been playing with Canada’s U-20 National Team in Costa Rica last week.

“He told me he got 10 hours of sleep,” Warming said. “He said ‘I slept on the plane. I feel good.’ I said roll out, see what’s happening. Play a few minutes. He comes in and gets the game winner.”

Sigue, in his second game of the season, played just seven minutes for Penn State. He entered the game late following Oakland’s game-tying goal. In the second minute of overtime, a loose ball landed at his feet. Sigue turned and fired, but his shot was initially blocked. He poked the rebound past the keeper for his first Penn State goal.

He missed much of the past week, including games against UC Berkeley and James Madison, after he got called up to the Canadian U-20 National Team. He was named to a 20-man roster that traveled to Costa Rica for a training camp and games against the Ticos.  This was Sigue’s first call-up to the U-20 team, which is mostly comprised of professional players.

Canada lost both matches on Thursday and Saturday to the Costa Ricans as Sigue featured in the action. The training camp and subsequent games were part of preparation for the CONCACAF U-20 World Cup qualifiers taking place in Costa Rica February 17-March 5. If Sigue continues his form, he could appear on that roster and possibly the U-20 World Cup next May if Canada qualifies.

Sigue is in his first season with the Nittany Lions this year. He transferred from Tulsa last January after playing in 32 games with two goals in his two seasons for the Golden Hurricane.

The Canadian native could play a major part in this upcoming season. His goal was the first in this year’s four games scored by someone other than Connor Maloney. Whether that role is starting or coming off the bench, he can quickly make an impact much like he showed tonight.

“He’s a difference maker for our team,” Warming said. “He helped us a ton against Stanford and he’s going to help us a ton in the future.”

The Nittany Lions will be back in action on Friday against St. Francis. With so many games in such a short span of time, Penn State has relied heavily on its bench. The combination of frequent squad rotation and the limited minutes Sigue got today signifies he could be seeing a bit more playing time against the Red Flash.