MIDDLETOWN, Pa - The Penn State Harrisburg men's soccer team is definitely starting to come together as a team.  The blue and white got off to a fiery start with a goal just 38 seconds into the squad's latest match against Keuka and never looked back en route to a 2-1 victory on Saturday, Sep. 23.

The Lions' junior forward Justin Henderson (Cherry Hill, N.J. / Cherry Hill East) continues his scoring streak and habit of getting them early by adding his fourth goal in two games by scoring a header in the first minute of the contest.  The goal came from a quality cross from senior captain Alex Belanger (Carlisle, Pa. / Big Spring), who leads the team with three assists on the year.

The game would continue to be filled with excitement all the way through.  Although there were no more first half goals, both teams were playing with an obvious desire to come out with a crucial North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victory.

"Keuka came in 4-1; on paper you could say they were favored," said Penn State Harrisburg Assistant Coach Kenny Archer.  "It was a must win for both teams."

Following this year's new Penn State Harrisburg halftime contest that sent home one lucky student with a free month's rent at the Nittany Village apartments for kicking a shot into a pug goal from midfield, both teams were ready to get back on the pitch

The second half was filled with plenty of shots, corner kicks, and fouls.  Surprisingly the two second half goals came indirectly from fouls as the Lions received a penalty kick and newcomer Hakan Demircan (Weisbaden, Germany /Wiesbaden American) got his first goal of the season, putting the home team up 2-0.

Not long after Demircan's score, the Storm was awarded a penalty kick of its own.  The visiting player netted his shot to cut the deficit to 2-1.  The last 20 minutes were filled with a lot of back and forth play and big crosses into the both boxes.  The Lions were able to hold off the Storm and come out with the victory.

"Kevin McCoy's (Bangor, Pa./ Bangor) defensive play was very smart, tactical, and strong," said Archer of his starting center back and one of the team captains.  "We came in today with our usual game plan: play as a team, limit our mistakes, and get the reward."

That is exactly what the Lions did.

The blue and white hopes to add to its win total in the team's next match on Sunday, Sep. 23 when they host Wells in another NEAC showdown.