Men's Soccer Drops Season Opener to Emory & Henry

By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director

Mont Alto, Pa. (September 1, 2017) - The Penn State Mont Alto men's soccer team held possession within the attacking third for the opening minutes of Friday's non-conference matchup against Emory & Henry College, but the visiting Wasps responded accordingly enroute to a 4-0 win. Freshman goalkeeper Owen Gilbert was credited with the loss, but he made several terrific saves in his debut keeping the Lions within striking distance for most of the match. Overall, Gilbert made five saves between the pipes on nine shots on goal.

Emory & Henry began to dominate possession around the 4th minute and were quickly rewarded on the counter-attack when Massimo Tager found a streaking Jordan Couch who slotted the ball past the out-stretched arms of Gilbert for the opening goal of the match. The Wasps made it 2-0 a little over seven minutes later when Tyequis Stallins ripped a shot from outside the box into the upper left hand corner of the net. Colin Foley finished out the first half scoring in the 19th minute when forward Jordan Couch assisted him on the play.

The second half saw the Lions once again being dominated in possession by Emory & Henry, but the team defended much better overall. Within the half, Mont Alto recorded its first two shots of the season with the first nearly bending below the crossbar off the right foot of midfielder Will Gray. The second shot was a header by Soumana Coulibaly, which was handled relatively easily by Hemza Abaneh.

Emory & Henry outshot Mont Alto, 21-2 with the Wasps also holding a 13-0 advantage on corner kicks.

The men are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 2 when they host NCAA Division III opponent Delaware Valley at 4 p.m.