MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – A win is always big. A postseason victory is even more important. But Penn State Harrisburg's beating of SUNYIT on Oct. 31 was about so much more than just moving on to the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) tournament's semifinal round.
The win ended the Lions' six-game losing-streak to the Wildcats that dated back to 2009. It exacted a bit of revenge for the two conference title game losses the Blue and White suffered at the hands of SUNYIT in 2010 and 2011. It was a measure of redemption for the seniors who had never beaten the two-time defending NEAC champions in any of their seasons as a member of the men's soccer team.
And that's why this particular victory takes the number one spot on Penn State Harrisburg's list of top ten fall sports moments.
On Halloween day 2012, the Lions traveled to New York for their NEAC tourney first round contest. Waiting at the end of the journey was the opponent that had owned them the past four years.
But things would end differently on this afternoon.
As per usual, the teams were evenly matched. Both sides played hard and each had chances to get on the board first. But neither squad budged and the score remained tied 0-0 deep into the match.
The first half ended with no scoring. So did the second.
Into overtime the Lions and Wildcats played. No goals in the first extra session. A second overtime followed and mirrored the first, with no scoring from either club.
In the end, it all came down to penalty kicks.
Penn State Harrisburg senior forward Alex Belanger (Carlisle, Pa. / Big Spring) led things off. He coolly stepped up to the ball and converted the first PK.
Unsurprisingly to those with a knowledge of the series' lopsided history, IT answered right back when Tyler Fleming evened the score on the Wildcats' first attempt.
Junior midfielder Tommy Miller (Palmyra, Pa. / Palmyra) was up to the challenge of regaining the advantage. He put the Lions back in front by converting his crucial penalty kick. Miller had given his team the lead.
The Blue and White never relinquished it.
The Wildcats' Matt Wilday stepped up to take his team's second PK. Surely this would be the moment in which he tied things up and swung the momentum back in SUNY's favor on the way to IT's seventh-straight win over the visitors.
What the Wildcat coaches, players and fans who believe in those types of trends didn't know was that Penn State Harrisburg goalkeeper Charlie Hyson (Bel Air, Md. / Calvert Hall) had other ideas. Diving low and to his right, Hyson came through in the clutch, denying Wilday and making the most important save of the 2012 season.
From there, the Lions converted two more penalty kicks into goals. The home team could muster just one more score. After failing on six-consecutive occasions, Penn State Harrisburg finally broke the pattern and took down its biggest rival with a 4-2 PK win. The fact that it was a playoff game in IT's house made it all the more satisfying.
It begs the question: who saw that coming? It wasn't supposed to be this way. It wasn't in the cards for the defending champs to fall to the team that hadn't beaten them since George W. Bush was in office. Surely the script called for another trip to the NCAA tournament for the Wildcats…
Well, Penn State Harrisburg took that script and tore it to shreds.
This year's special group of young men and a first-year head coach in Seamus Donnelly chose not to let history dictate their future. The Lions may not have ended the week with a conference championship or an NCAA tournament bid, but they ended the 2012 campaign with a signature victory that every team strives to achieve.
And for that they've earned our countdown's number one spot.
Thank you for reading our list of the top ten fall sports moments. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at "PSHathletics" for continuing coverage of all things Penn State Harrisburg sports.