NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Penn State Harrisburg's men's soccer team broke a seven-game scoreless streak during the team's match with Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) foe Christopher Newport on Saturday night, Oct. 26. Senior Nana Nyantekyi (Howell, N.J. / Freehold Township) netted the game's opening goal; the Lions' first since their draw with Southern Virginia on Sep. 28. Unfortunately, the hometown Captains rebounded from the early deficit and eventually handed the Blue & White a 3-1 defeat.
Penn State Harrisburg got on the board first when freshman Jonathan Vanaskie (Shamokin, Pa. / Shamokin Area) made a cross from the right side and connected with Nyantekyi inside the 18-yard box. Nyantekyi kept his shot low, putting it past Christopher Newport goalkeeper Sean Killion and into the bottom right corner of the net to give the Lions a 1-0 advantage in the match's ninth minute.
From there, the contest was a back-and-forth affair with both teams trading shots over the next 20 minutes. The Captains finally broke the scoreless stretch when Jalon Brown converted the equalizer at the 32:00 mark of the first half.
A Penn State Harrisburg foul led to a Newport penalty kick a few minutes later. Alec Faulkner took full advantage of the situation by netting the home team's second goal of the night in the 40th minute. The Captains took the 2-1 lead into the break.
Momentum shifted a bit after halftime as Christopher Newport got off seven shots in the second period's first 14 minutes compared to just two for the Blue & White in the same timeframe. The Captains finally converted one of those offensive opportunities in the 59th minute when Brown scored his second goal of the night off an assist by Jimmy Grace, upping the home team's lead to 3-1.
The Lions got off just one shot following Newport's final score; a Jimmy Bilger (Slatington, Pa. / Northern Lehigh) attempt in the 72nd minute that sailed high.
Christopher Newport outshot the Blue & White 33-5 but the Lions hung with the Captains in the corner kick department, getting off two corners compared to four by the home team. Penn State Harrisburg goalkeeper Brandon Hoover (Lancaster, Pa. / Pequea Valley) played his second-straight strong game, making eight tough saves after limiting York (Pa.), the eighth-ranked team in the nation, to just one score on Wednesday night, Oct. 23.
Despite playing some very good soccer over the past few weeks, the Lions just cannot seem to catch a break and now sit at 3-12-1 on the season. They have yet to pick up that elusive first conference victory and have one last chance to do so when Penn State Harrisburg hosts Marymount (Va.) in the team's 2013 finale on Wednesday, Oct. 30.