ALTOONA, Pa.—The Allegheny College men's soccer team was running on all cylinders as they picked up a non-conference 5-0 win over Penn State Altoona on the road Saturday (Sept. 1).
The Gators earned the first scoring opportunity of the game 15 minutes in when
Jon Sion's shot bounced off the far post and the rebounded shot went just over the crossbar. Minutes later,
Danny Reid found Sion with a cross in the box the Penn State Altoona goalie turned the shot away. The Gators offense continued to pressure as
Liam McKersie hit the crossbar on a header, followed by a save on a Sion header just after.
After
Nick Ferreira made a save for the Gators,
Jacob LeSane had a shot that was knocked down by the goalie along the goal line but was cleared by the defender.
After pressuring the defense all half, the Gators finally broke through in the 42
nd minute.
Eddie Opalko threaed a lead pass through the defense to Taliani, who chipped it over the goalie to give the Gators a 1-0 lead.
The Gators got out of the gate fast in the second half. Minutes in, they earned a penalty kick, which Reid converted to extend the lead to 2-0. Not long after, a long Reid pass found McKersie in the box as he headed a low ball past the keeper to make it 3-0.
In the 59
th minute, Reid tallied his fourth point of the of the match as he found
Owen Harkins for the fourth goal. Two minutes later, Sion got on the score sheet as he scored off Opalko's second assist.
Reid led the Gators with a goal and two assists. Opalko also added two assists. Goals by Sion, Harkins, McKersie and Taiiani rounded up the scoring.
Ferreira earned the clean sheet in net, making five saves.
The Gators open up the home portion of their schedule Thursday (Sept. 6) against Pitt-Bradford.
