Scranton Captures First Win of the Soccer Season on Senior Day
| 90:00 - 2nd | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Penn State Hazleton () | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Penn State Scranton () | 1 | 3 | 4 |
By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics
On a picture perfect Saturday in the electric city, the Penn State Scranton men's soccer team earned a hard fought first victory of the season in their dominant 4-0 shutout win over conference rival Penn State Hazleton. During the half-time festivities on Senior Day, Scranton honored their lone senior, four-year standout player and team captain Christian Pane, a native of Fairfax, Virginia, who tallied two shots on goal in his final home game on the pitch. Now after this impressive win, Scranton sees their overall record stand at 1-9 and 1-7 in the all-important league play with just one more contest left in their 2022 regular season campaign.
Scranton got off to an early strong start when they got on the scoreboard first at the 16:08 mark of the first half, when sophomore Victor Bulaya lit the lamp, assisted by fellow sophomore Raphael Carvalho, to give his Lions squad a 1-0 advantage, a lead they would enjoy heading into the half-time break in the action.
In the second half Scranton seized control of the game and put it away for good by scoring three goals, two of them late in the match, to ensure victory. Only twelve minutes into the half, at the 57:18 mark, Bulaya scored once again, this time on a penalty shot to increase his club's advantage to 2-0. Then late in the game sophomore Michael DeWolfe scored the first of his two goals on the day, the first one coming at 83:25 unassisted to increase Scranton's lead to 3-0, and the second one coming just over two minutes later, at the 85:49 mark, to give the Lions the substantial 4-0 advantage they would enjoy when the clock turned to zeroes by game's end.
On the goalie side of things, Scranton was led by their sophomore goalkeeper Erick Alonso who earned the shutout win while playing all 90 minutes of the contest, as the Lions defense was so stalwart that they held Hazleton to only one shot, none on goal, the entire game. Meanwhile for Hazleton, they were led between the pipes by their goalie Bryce Dalpiaz, as he saved a solid 11 of the 15 shots on goal he faced while also playing the entire contest in net while facing constant offensive pressure from Scranton all day long.
