Members of the OSU men’s soccer team celebrate during a 4-1 win against Rutgers on Oct. 25, 2014, at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Credit: Lantern File Photo
The Ohio State men’s soccer team headed to University Park fresh off the heels of its first win of the season, a 1-0 victory at home against the Northwestern Wildcats where they dominated possession. They looked to carry that momentum with them as they took on Penn State on Tuesday night, but fell short
The Nittany Lions quickly brought the Buckeyes back to reality, scoring on their very first shot in the first minute of the game en route to a 4-2 victory over OSU.
The game was a tale of two very different halves, the first of which was all Penn State.
Just 47 seconds into the match, the Nittany Lions were able to find the back of the net on a shot by senior midfielder Mason Klerks from 19 yards out on an assist from senior forward Connor Maloney.
Both Klerks and Maloney played an extensive role in Penn State’s dominating first period.
In the 26th minute, Klerks would put one through again on a header off a free kick from Maloney, his second goal of the night and second of the season.
Maloney would finish with three assists and a goal, coming on the strength of a penalty kick in the 28th minute.
After the first 45 minutes of play, Penn State held a 4-0 lead, despite OSU having the advantage in shots at 7-5 and corner kicks at 7-0.
In the second half, the Buckeyes were able to start to put things together.
In the 66th minute, senior defender Austin Bergstrom was able to bury a penalty kick to get the Buckeyes on the board, his first goal of the season.
Ohio State was again able to beat Penn State’s freshman goalkeeper Arie Ammann when sophomore midfielder Abdi Mohamed placed a nice arching shot into the left of the net from 25 yards out.
In the end, the Buckeyes comeback efforts would not be enough to erase their early deficit. They outshot Penn State 12-7 with an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks, but walked away with their fifth loss of the year
It was a rough match for Ohio State redshirt freshman goalkeeper Parker Siegfried, who before the match was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Siegfried recorded his first career shutout in the win over Northwestern.
The Buckeyes will play their third Big Ten contest in a row when they take on Rutgers this Sunday, Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
