Penn State men’s soccer (1-1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) drew 1-1 against Syracuse (1-1-1, 0-0 ACC) on Thursday night at SU Soccer Stadium in Syracuse, New York.

After the match got off to a slow start in the first eight minutes, Syracuse got the scoring started in the 15th minute with a goal from Kelvin Da Costa to take the early lead. However, Penn State responded in the 42nd minute with a goal from Freddie Bell to tie the game at one heading into halftime. In the second half, both teams had multiple scoring opportunities to break the deadlock but, in the end, they couldn’t find a game-winning goal, leading to Penn State’s first draw of the season.

How It Happened

Penn State made two changes to its starting lineup from its loss against Army with Davy Leavey coming in to replace the suspended Caden Grabfelder and Joseph Sheridan replacing Matiwos Rumley. The first half got off to a slow start as both teams struggled to create any scoring opportunities in the first eight minutes. Penn State’s Kai Phillip had the first chance of the game as he hit a shot on-target which forced Syracuse’s goalkeeper Tomas Hut to make a save.

The ball didn’t go out of bounds and a minute later, the Nittany Lions had their first corner kick. They couldn’t capitalize but managed to force another corner. Once again, they failed to create a dangerous scoring opportunity as Syracuse cleared the ball out of danger.

In the 12th minute, the Orange recovered the ball from the Nittany Lions’ goal kick and got into their side of the field. Nathan Scott moved the ball down the right flank before playing the ball into the box. The ball was headed way by Ben Liscum, but Kelvin Da Costa was there for the rebound outside the box and volleyed the ball into the back of the net on a deflection off the head of Sheridan. This gave the Orange an early 1-0 lead.

Both teams went back-and forth for the next five minutes until Liscum had another chance to get on the board in the 17th minute on a shot by Liscum, but his shot was off-target. In the span of two minutes, the Nittany Lions had two opportunities to score but could not get either shot on-target. The tempo of the game slowed down for the next eight minutes before a shot by Syracuse’s Michael Acquah went off-target.

In the 30th minute, the Orange had the opportunity to extend their lead on a shot by Da Costa, but the shot was block before the Nittany Lions gained a free kick in their side of the field. Once again, both teams went back-and-forth for the next ten minutes as neither team managed to create a dangerous scoring opportunity. In the 40th minute, Carlos Zambrano managed to give the Orange a scoring opportunity, but his shot went off-target as the Nittany Lions’ one-goal deficit stayed intact.

However, two minutes later, Liscum drove the ball down into the middle of Syracuse’s box where he played the ball to Phillip. Phillip passed the ball to a wide-open Bell who was outside the box. He hit the ball first time with so much power, and it went into the goal as Penn State tied the game at one with less than three minutes to go in the first half. The first half came to an end with both teams tied at one.

A quick look back at this rocket from Bell before starting the second half #WeAre pic.twitter.com/Wp3Qdc5AtY

— Penn State Men’s Soccer (@PennStateMSOC) August 29, 2025

Just like the first half, both teams struggled to create any meaningful scoring opportunities in the first eight minutes of the second half. In the 52nd minute, the Orange earned a free kick on a foul by Leavey in their side of field which earned him a yellow card. After the free kick, Syracuse’s Chimere Omeze got into the middle of Penn State’s box where he was one-on-one against Matthew Henderson. He managed to beat the defender and get a shot on-target, but Penn State’s goalkeeper Jonny Evans made a spectacular save to keep the deadlock at one.

MAGNIFICENT SAVE FROM JONNY!!!

2H | 53:04 | SU 1, PSU 1#WeAre pic.twitter.com/DKmpVUi3DT

— Penn State Men’s Soccer (@PennStateMSOC) August 29, 2025

After the save, the ball went out of bounds for a Syracuse corner. However, it couldn’t not create a dangerous scoring opportunity as the ball went out of bounds and a goal kick was given to the Nittany Lions. Two minutes later, Phillip had a chance to break the deadlock for Penn State, but his shot was blocked before a Penn State corner was given. It could not convert on this opportunity as the Orange got the ball out of danger.

The tempo of the game slowed down for the next 11 minutes as both teams struggled to break down each other’s defense. In the 68th minute, Leavey took a shot from outside the box, but Hut made an amazing save to keep the tie intact. This led to a corner for the Nittany Lions, and they had another great scoring opportunity on a shot by Phillip, but he missed as the shot went above the goal.

With 20 minutes left in the game, the game started to open up as both teams got desperate to break the deadlock. Penn State had the first scoring chance on a shot by Morgan Marshall, but his shot was blocked. However, Syracuse did not clear the danger, and the Nittany Lions had another dangerous scoring opportunity on a shot by Malick Daouda, but Hut made another save for the Orange which led to a Penn State corner. It could not create a dangerous opportunity as the ball went out of bounds for a Syracuse goal kick.

In the 72nd minute, Syracuse started to high press, and it got a scoring opportunity to break the tie on a shot by Acquah, but it went off-target. A minute later, a free kick was given to the Orange, and a yellow card was given to Bell and Henderson but couldn’t create a dangerous scoring opportunity. In the 74th minute, Leavey had a scoring opportunity for the Nittany Lions, but his shot went off-target.

The tempo of the game slowed down for the next eight minutes both teams struggled to break the deadlock. With seven minutes left, Penn State had another great scoring opportunity on a shot by Bell but once again, Hut made another great save which led to a Penn State corner. It couldn’t not convert on the set piece as the deadlock stayed intact.

With five minutes left, it was Syracuse’s turn to attempt to break the tie on a shot by Zambrano, but Evans made an amazing save. Both teams kept going back-and-forth for the last four minutes of the game but with 39 seconds left, the Orange got the ball out of dangerous territory. Darko brought the ball and played it Zambrano.

Zambrano took a few touches down the middle of the field as Darko got behind Penn State’s defense. He found Darko wide open as he stayed onsides. This gave a one-on-one against Evans and tried take it around Evans, but Evans was ready for it and made the save as the game ended 1-1.

Takeaways

• Once again, the Nittany Lions struggled to get the ball into the back of the net. After scoring one goal on eight shots on-target in their loss against Army, they were inefficient on goal as they had 13 shots with five on-target and managed to score only a single goal again. The Orange also struggled too as they had 8 shots with 3 on-target and scored only one goal just like the Nittany Lions.
• Despite both teams’ inefficiency on goal, both goalies deserve a lot of credit tonight. Syracuse’s goalkeeper Tomas Hut had four saves and Jonathan Evans had two including a game-saving save in the last minute. The tie wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for their contributions.
• After struggling with Army’s physicality last week, Penn State played much better against Syracuse’s physicality as it only got three yellow cards and no red cards this time around. There were 20 fouls in this game, but Penn State did a better job to handling the physicality game.

What’s Next?

Penn State will return to Jeffrey Field where it will take on No. 24 Missouri State on Monday, September 1 at 4 p.m. The game will be streamed on BTN+.