Salisbury, Md. – The Penn State Harrisburg women's soccer team came out extremely strong against one of the best teams in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Saturday September 26th. After starting the game on top thanks to Kylie Courtney's ( Honey Brook, Pa. / Twin Valley ) first goal of her collegiate career just ten minutes in, the action didn't stop until the 99th minute when the Salisbury Seagulls , playing with a one man advantage, scored their third goal of the day to claim the exciting 3-2 overtime win.
Courtney's strike was short lived as the Seagulls responded just a minute later to even the game at 1-1. Unfortunately, despite an extremely strong first half of soccer the Lions found themselves down 2-1 as the strong Salisbury squad was able to find the net for a second time in the 16th minute. From that point on, Harrisburg had the majority of play on their offensive side.
The Blue and White had great performances from the attacking players, but it took a defender to even the score just before halftime. Kristin Peckman (Chambersburg, Pa. / James Buchanan), a four year starter at the back, picked the perfect time to score the first goal of her collegiate career off a Courtney corner kick five minutes before the half.
In the second half the wind picked up even more and made it difficult for the Lions to work the ball out of the back, which found themselves defending much more than the first half. Despite the pressure, Penn State Harrisburg refused to give Salisbury anything too dangerous. That is until the 85th minute when a great through ball sent a Salisbury forward into a 1v1 with goalie Samantha Kutcher (Lititz, Pa. / Warwick). Kutcher made what the Lion faithful thought was a game saving tackle just outside the box, unfortunately the man in charge saw it differently and awarded the home team a free kick along with a red card to the Lion keeper.
As the first Overtime started, the Lions playing a man down would have been happy to settle with a point on the road, but hopeful they may get a counter attack opportunity to try and win the game. The chance came and Harrisburg pushed forward with numbers creating a great scoring opportunity. As the shot was blocked the Seagulls then took the ball the entire length of the field for their own counter attack that eventually found Alex Prior for the game winning shot.
The Lions will have another chance to pick up their first conference win of the season when they face Wesley College at home Wednesday September 30th for a 4:00 pm kickoff.