Penn State Men’s Soccer Falls To Hofstra 1-0 In Season Opener
Penn State men’s soccer (0-1) dropped its opening game of the 2017 to Hofstra (1-0) at Jeffrey Field on Friday night in front of a crowd of 1,719.
The Nittany Lions were unable to come back from an early first-half deficit and were blanked at home by a defensively compact Pride team in a 1-0 loss.
How It Happened
Friday’s season-opening match saw four Nittany Lions — sophomore Kyle Perno, freshman Ethan Beckford, freshman Callum Pritchatt and sophomore Aaron Malloy–make their Penn State debuts in front of a crowd of 1,719.
Hofstra forward Danny Elliot opened the scoring for the Pride in the seventh minute, beating Penn State wingback Austin Maloney to the end line and firing an unstoppable shot across Evan Finney’s goal and into the side-netting.
The two teams split possession evenly until the 25th minute, when Beckford was fouled just outside the 18 yard box after a powerful solo dribbling run. Malloy forced Hofstra goalkeeper Alex Ashton to make an impressive save from the ensuing free kick.
Penn State accumulated more possession and created a slew of late chances over the course of the following 20 minutes, but the Nittany Lions could not capitalize, and trailed Hofstra 1-0 at halftime.
The Nittany Lion’s momentum continued into the second half. Sophomore midfielder Mitchel Bringolf put a 57th minute rebound over the bar. Hofstra’s Ashton remained unbeatable, denying sophomore Lions forward Christian Sload in a one-on-one and acrobatically keeping out Cameron Steele’s 67th minute thunderbolt from thirty yards out.
Pritchett found senior forward Sam Bollinger in the 85th, but the winger was unable to convert his chance from inside the six yard box.
Hofstra held on in the dying minutes of what became an aggressive match (Penn State committed 20 Fouls, Hofstra recorded 15), and kept an energetic Penn State offense at bay to seal a 1-0 win away from home.
Player Of The Match
Pierre Reedy | Sophomore | Midfielder
The Kutztown, PA, native’s creativity and trickery on the wing created some of the Lion’s best chances.
What’s Next?
The Nittany Lions travel to California next Friday, September 1 to take on UC Irvine at Anteater Stadium.
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