MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Penn State Harrisburg's men's soccer team had a tough go of it in the squad's season opener on Friday, Aug. 31.  The Lions hit the road to take on a talented Lebanon Valley squad and it was all Dutchmen in this one.  LVC defended its home turf valiantly and shut out the blue and white 5-0. 

Lebanon Valley set the tone early when Jordann Ferguson's (Thompsontown, Pa. / Greenwood) header sneaked under the crossbar, over the head of Lions senior goalkeeper Charlie Hyson (Bel Air, Md. / Calvert Hall) and into the back of the net just two minutes into the match.

The deficit remained one-goal for the next 35 minutes until Dutchmen forward Andy Suprock (Mt. Airy, Md. / Home Schooled) scored back-to-back goals in less than a minute to stretch LVC's lead to 3-0 heading into halftime.

After the break, Lebanon Valley got a goal apiece from Stephen Simonian (Wallingford, Pa. / Strath Haven) and Curtis Washburn (Landsdale, Pa. / North Penn).  Washburn's goal capped the game's scoring and gave the Lions their first loss of the year.

Penn State Harrisburg managed just five shots all game long.  Senior forward Alex Belanger (Carlisle, Pa. / Big Spring) accounted for four of them while sophomore Matthew Hyson (Bel Air, Md. / Calvert Hall) fired off one of his own.  In comparison, the Dutchmen managed 19 total shots with nine of them coming on-goal. 

Hyson manned the net in the first half and made two saves.  Freshman goalie Deven Gerhart (Newmanstown, Pa. / Eastern Lebanon County) spelled him in the final 45 minutes, making two saves of his own.

The opening day loss was a disappointing start to the Lions season but there's no time to dwell on what could have been.  The blue and white has a chance to rebound against another MAC opponent when they travel to Susquehanna tomorrow afternoon.