Men’s Soccer Cruises to 5-1 Win on Senior Day
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's soccer team overpowered Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Pitt-Bradford by a score of 5-1 on Saturday afternoon, as the Lions hosted their final home game of the regular season at Spring Run Stadium.
The date marked the Lions' senior day, and the team recognized senior players Garrett Giedroc (Howard, PA/Bald Eagle), Blake Johnston (Altoona, PA/Bellwood-Antis), and Nathaniel McCourt (West Chester, PA/Salesianum School) in a pregame ceremony.
Penn State Altoona (4-8, 2-4 AMCC) sent its seniors out in style, as the Lions posted a comfortable win over their conference opponent. Luke Hall (State College, PA/State College) scored two goals, while Grady Ballard (State College, PA/State College), Henry Couchara (Plymouth Meeting, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh), and Daniel Persiko (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) each scored one.
Alexander Ferry (Warren, PA/Warren) notched his third victory of the year, making three stops between the pipes for the Lions in his 11th start of the season at keeper. Parth Raval (Mumbai, India/Thakur Polytechnic) saw his first action of the season, playing the final 9:56 in goal for the Lions.
It took just 5:45 for Penn State Altoona to break through for the game's first goal, as Hall buried a rebound chance following a save to put the Lions on the board. Couchara made it 2-0 at the 17:17 mark, when he headed Ballard's corner kick past the keeper from short range.
Pitt-Bradford (2-13, 1-5 AMCC) cut into Penn State Altoona's lead at 20:16, when Rodney Walker curved his corner kick into the goal to trim the Lions' advantage to 2-1.
But Penn State Altoona got that goal back before the end of the half, taking advantage of another rebound in the box. The deflection came to Persiko, who fired a shot into the net from six yards out at 26:39 to make it 3-1.
Penn State Altoona tacked another goal on to its total 19 seconds into the second half. Sebastian Tem (Panama City, Panama/Balboa Academy) sent a pass into the box, and Hall collected it and sent a shot past the keeper from 12 yards to increase the Lions' lead to 4-1.
Pitt-Bradford had a chance to narrow its deficit to two at 58:23, when Scott Compson was awarded a penalty kick. But Compson's try was saved by Ferry, and the Lions preserved their three-goal margin.
Ballard upped Penn State Altoona's lead to 5-1 at 63:56. Alexander Rubio (Woodbridge, VA/St. John Paul the Great) set up Ballard with a pass on the sideline, and Ballard hammered a long shot off of the crossbar and into the goal to give the home team a four-goal advantage.
Penn State Altoona finished the game with a 36-11 advantage over Pitt-Bradford in shots attempted, including a 17-4 lead in shots on goal. The Lions also led 6-4 in corner kicks.
The Lions wrap up their AMCC regular season schedule on the road this upcoming Tuesday, October 25, traveling to Pittsburgh to take on La Roche University at 3:00 p.m.
