Penn State Men’s Soccer Fall 2-0 to the Wolverines
Penn State’s men’s soccer fell 2-0 against Michigan Sunday despite outshooting the Wolverines 15 – 6. Regardless of the score, what made the afternoon special was the halftime presentation in which Penn State men’s soccer honored Brett Gravatt and all Ability Athletes at Penn State.
"We are always looking at the positives, noted Warming. "We have a super young team out there and they had a very veteran team and probably the top player we have seen this year, Francis Atuahene, and I think our guys did a remarkable job today. Sometimes in soccer you are not always going to get a win, but what you always have to count on is that you give your best effort. And I felt like our guys gave their best effort today. We've seen teams out shoot us 50-1 and we win the game. It is what you do personally and what you do collectively that is important in the sport."
Penn State got their first crack on goal after Austin Maloney found his brother Connor Maloney inside Michigan’s box. C. Maloney went for the shot but it was saved by the Wolverine’s goalkeeper to keep the game level early in the first half.
Ten minutes later, the Wolverines were on attack and Michigan’s William Mellors-Blair received the ball in the box and took a shot that went by goalkeeper Matt Bersano to give the Wolverines their first goal of the match.
For the remainder of the match, Penn State looked dangerous on many occasions but failed to find the back of the net. Their most promising moment was in the 84th minute when it looked as if Sam Bollinger would equalize the match from a header, but the ball went wide of the goal.
Unfortunately in the closing minutes of the game, goalkeeper Matt Bersano went to clear the ball but an error led to Michigan’s second goal of the afternoon and a Big Ten Conference loss for the Nittany Lions.
Despite the score, the game was still a memorable one for the Penn State men’s soccer community. During halftime, former student-athlete and current student assistant Brett Gravatt was honored along with other Penn State Ability Athletes. Gravatt, a junior from Dunn Loring, VA, was seriously injured last December in a snowboarding accident that left him partially paralyzed. It was great to see the Penn State soccer community out in full force to celebrate Gravatt.
Up next for the Lions is a midweek non-conference road game against No. 9 Akron on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and a Big Ten Conference match against Rutgers in Piscataway Township, NJ on Saturday at 7 p.m.
"We are always looking at the positives, noted Warming. "We have a super young team out there and they had a very veteran team and probably the top player we have seen this year, Francis Atuahene, and I think our guys did a remarkable job today. Sometimes in soccer you are not always going to get a win, but what you always have to count on is that you give your best effort. And I felt like our guys gave their best effort today. We've seen teams out shoot us 50-1 and we win the game. It is what you do personally and what you do collectively that is important in the sport."
Penn State got their first crack on goal after Austin Maloney found his brother Connor Maloney inside Michigan’s box. C. Maloney went for the shot but it was saved by the Wolverine’s goalkeeper to keep the game level early in the first half.
Ten minutes later, the Wolverines were on attack and Michigan’s William Mellors-Blair received the ball in the box and took a shot that went by goalkeeper Matt Bersano to give the Wolverines their first goal of the match.
For the remainder of the match, Penn State looked dangerous on many occasions but failed to find the back of the net. Their most promising moment was in the 84th minute when it looked as if Sam Bollinger would equalize the match from a header, but the ball went wide of the goal.
Unfortunately in the closing minutes of the game, goalkeeper Matt Bersano went to clear the ball but an error led to Michigan’s second goal of the afternoon and a Big Ten Conference loss for the Nittany Lions.
Despite the score, the game was still a memorable one for the Penn State men’s soccer community. During halftime, former student-athlete and current student assistant Brett Gravatt was honored along with other Penn State Ability Athletes. Gravatt, a junior from Dunn Loring, VA, was seriously injured last December in a snowboarding accident that left him partially paralyzed. It was great to see the Penn State soccer community out in full force to celebrate Gravatt.
Up next for the Lions is a midweek non-conference road game against No. 9 Akron on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and a Big Ten Conference match against Rutgers in Piscataway Township, NJ on Saturday at 7 p.m.
