Penn State men’s soccer (1-0-0, 0-0-0 Big Ten) rallied back from an early two-goal deficit to defeat Mercyhurst (0-1-0, 0-0-0 NEC) in their home and season opener, 2-0, to begin the Rob Dow era.

A pair of early mistakes put the Nittany Lions in a 2-0 hole, as the Lakers converted an early penalty and took advantage of a disastrous turnover in the box to take control in the first 21 minutes. From there, Penn State steadily controlled play over the course of the game, finding a goal before half before the game swung on a VAR-assisted red card in the 51st minute.

An equalizer from Joseph Sheridan off a corner midway through the half tied it before a stroke of good luck on an own goal staved off the upset bid to make Dow the first Penn State men’s soccer coach to win their debut since Bob Warming in a 5-0 win over Buffalo in 2010.

How It Happened

The 2026 season started innocently enough for the Nittany Lions, controlling possession in the early going and getting a corner kick less than 30 seconds in that they couldn’t do much with. Mercyhurst played the game more evenly for the next several minutes, getting their first opportunity on a shot from Max Beech in the box that was blocked, with Beech arguing for a penalty.

Such a plea was ultimately successful, as a challenge by Lakers head coach Austin Solomon requested a video review, which granted the Lakers a penalty. Alvar Silva would take and convert the penalty, firing the ball past Penn State goalkeeper Daniel Peluffo-Wiese in the eighth minute to make it 1-0 Mercyhurst early.

Less than two minutes after the goal, Dow would challenge for a penalty/advantageous free kick on the edge of the box that was denied on review.

The ensuing 15-20 minutes were predominantly played on the other side of the pitch, as the Nittany Lions pressed up the field looking for an equalizer.

Morgan Marshall would send a close shot over the bar off a throw-in and Luca Sowinski would narrowly miss the right post off a corner, while Marshall would be denied on the team’s first shot on target in the 20th minute.

Despite outplaying the Lakers for much of the next 20 minutes following the opening goal, all it would take was one opportunity the other way to get another one in the net.

Peter Doran picked up the season’s first yellow card for Penn State, with the ensuing Mercyhurst action resulting in a goal kick for Peluffo-Wiese. Disaster ensued as he took his time and rushed a pass to Grant MacIntosh, who committed a horrific turnover. Silva picked off the errant pass and set up Beech for a tap-in goal to make it 2-0 Lakers in the 21st minute.

A cross in the box by Amadou Kone in the 26th minute nearly got the Nittany Lions their first goal, but Mercyhurst goalkeeper Jaime Tedaldi smothered Joseph Buckley’s tap-in attempt. Penn State kept pushing with a pair of shots wide and a corner, but were held off the board deep into the first half.

Late in the 35th minute, Noah Foerster sent a beautiful ball ahead in transition to Kone, who outran the competition from midfield and beat the Tedaldi 1-on-1 for the first goal of the season for Penn State, cutting the deficit to 2-1 right before the half.

First goal of the Coach Dow era#WeAre pic.twitter.com/5Qqik13cyG

— Penn State Men’s Soccer (@PennStateMSOC) August 20, 2026

Energized by Kone’s late goal, the Nittany Lions came out firing in the second half, putting two shots on target in the first 35 seconds, including a beautiful left-legged robbery by Tedaldi on the initial shot by Buckley.

Mercyhurst started to toe the line with the officials, taking their first yellow card of the season less than a minute in, before a yellow card was shown to Joe Chinchilla for a kick to the head of Sheridan McNish in the 51st minute. VAR flagged it for review, and it was upgraded to a red card, forcing the Lakers to play a man down for the remaining 40 minutes.

Now playing 11-on-10, the Nittany Lions increased the pressure. Tedaldi stopped a number of shots, first from Etienne Reck right after the red, a beautiful touch save on a header from Kone in the 57th minute, and another header by Joseph Sheridan. With the Lakers playing an entire half essentially in their own end out of necessity, it felt inevitable the dam would break.

Penn State was given a corner in the 68th minute, which was taken by MacIntosh. He sent a powerful boot to the left side of the goal, which looked harmlessly headed down by Sheridan, but it slipped past Tedaldi for the equalizer, knotting the match at two.

SHABANG#WeAre pic.twitter.com/5HKmlypi7i

— Penn State Men’s Soccer (@PennStateMSOC) August 21, 2026

There was no respite coming for the Lakers due to the earlier red card, as Penn State pushed closer and closer to a go-ahead goal with multiple corners and a great look for Suwinski that was blocked by the last defender back. The relentless pressure exhausted Tedaldi, who spent several minutes on the ground after another save in the 74th minute.

Mercyhurst finally generated a real chance in the 74th minute on a long goal kick that was turned into a Santiago Giraldo shot on target. On multiple counter-attacks, it was seemingly Giraldo against the world, with him getting another shot on target late in the 80th minute after dancing around the defender in the box.

Corner after corner and chance after chance went by the wayside, but Mercyhurst was merely delaying the inevitable. A long pass by Toby Grant was beautifully placed to a streaking Reck, who deflected the ensuing touch off a Laker defender and into the back of the net for the game-winning goal in the 84th minute.

Attempting to rally late from a man down was an exercise in futility for Mercyhurst, but they tried anyway. Benjamin Buckley soared a shot from the box wide with about four minutes to play; Jero Bencomo fired one on target with 3:30 to go and another wide with 70 seconds, but they just wouldn’t have enough to pull off a stunner, as the Nittany Lions prevailed, 3-2.

Takeaways

• This was one of those games you saw at the FIFA World Cup, where the favored team conceded early and spent the rest of the game pushing the underdog to the limit. Think England against D.R. Congo in the Round of 32. While it was more even early, Penn State controlled play almost the entire game.
• Playing a man up for 40 minutes helped some of these numbers. The Nittany Lions had 15 more corner kicks, 15 more shots, and nine more shots on target. Hats off to Jaime Tedaldi, who was outstanding all game until the pressure inevitably broke through.
• This is the only home event by a Penn State team before classes start on Monday, but the Park Avenue Army was still present. Good for them. It was also the first look at the men’s soccer Adidas kits, although we saw the women’s soccer team debut Penn State’s partnership with their new sportswear partner last weekend in South Bend.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions hit the road for the first time this season, traveling to Springfield, Missouri, for a non-conference clash with Missouri State at 8 p.m. on Sunday, August 23. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.