MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - In the NEAC semi-finals, the Penn State Harrisburg Nittany Lions faced Penn State Abington, a team they beat 6-1 in regular season play. The Lions ousted Penn State Abington once again to advance to the NEAC Championship game on Sunday, November 7 against SUNY IT, the regular season champions.
The Lions took an early lead and never looked back. Just 30 seconds into the game, Josh Clinger (East Petersburg, PA/Hempfield) sent Ian Lake (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cedar Cliff) a pass in the box to knock in the first goal of the game. The lone Penn State Abington goal came at the 23rd minute as Elsion Pajollari snuck one past the Penn State Harrisburg defense.
Lake found Danny Francis (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) on a breakaway to give the Lions a 2-1 lead to enter intermission. Francis struck again at the 60th minute with a header off of a deflected shot. Freshman Tommy Miller (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) gathered a rebound to net the final goal of the game, giving the Nittany Lions the 4-1 decision. With the win, Penn State Harrisburg advances to the NEAC Championship game on Sunday at 5PM. If the Nittany Lions win the NEAC Championship they will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.