MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny men's soccer team kicked-off Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play at home against Bethany Wednesday (Sept. 20), falling 1-0 on a second half penalty kick.
 
The Gators earned a penalty shot in the 11th minute, but the attempt was turned away. Will Gruca (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) had a quality opportunity in the 30th minute, but the shot ricocheted off the far post. Allegheny owned a 10-7 advantage in shots for the opening 45 minutes, but the game remained scoreless at half.
 
Nick Magee (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) had a pair of quality shots for the Gators early in the second half, but once again, the attempts were turned away. Minutes later, Gruca had a shot that went just over the top of the crossbar.
 
The stalemate was broken in the 73rd minute. This time, Bethany converted a penalty kick opportunity, taking a 1-0 lead.
 
The Gators produced a flurry of shots in the final minute, including a Renen Frank (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) header that was cleared out on the goal line by a Bison defender, as the Gators fell 1-0.
 
Inside the Box

• Bethany scored the lone goal in the 73rd minute.
• Magee and Gruca had two shots on goal.
• Henry Rosenberg (Pittsburgh, Pa./Allderdice), Gunnar Brettell (Steubenville, Ohio/Indian Creek), Brady Napoleon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon), Cam Kaminski (Bowling Green, Ohio/Maumee Valley Country Day), Aidan Dyga (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Frank also tallied chances on goal.
• Caleb Kendra (Beaver Falls, Pa./Riverside) finished with four saves.
• The Gators outpaced the Bison in shots, 23-14.

News and Notes

• Allegheny is now 3-16-3 all-time against Bethany. 

Up Next
The Gators are on the road Saturday (Sept. 23) against Westminster in PAC action.