MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - The Penn State Harrisburg men's soccer team was coming off a disappointing loss against Juniata on Tuesday, Oct. 9. It was not the loss that was the disappointing part but the effort the boys gave as they played without the hard working reputation the men have built this season under new head coach Seamus Donnelly. Apparently, the one off game for the men was actually just what the team needed. They took the lesson learned from the loss and followed it up with one of their best performances of the season in a 1-1 draw with Cazenovia on Saturday, Oct. 13.
The blue and white came out with their usual intensity and hard work rate from the starting whistle and would have the Wildcats on their heels for almost the entire game. Although keeping the ball on the attacking end, the Lions' best chance came early in the game when Jon Willingham (Harrisburg, Pa. / Sci-Tech High), who was playing even bigger than his 5'10" - 190 pound frame, created himself a golden scoring opportunity that he would not finish.
The second half was filled with both scores of the day. Willingham even called his goal by telling Donnelly at halftime that he was going to make up for his first half miss. It only took a few minutes into the second half until Willingham came through on his statement. His open net shot came after Justin Henderson (Cherry Hill, N.J. / Cherry Hill East) dribbled into the Wildcat keeper and Willingham was there to grab the loose ball and the score.
Despite more than a handful of quality scoring chances from the Lions, that was the only goal that would come on the afternoon. Even with the great play from Penn State Harrisburg, the Wildcats would eventually take advantage of a dangerous foul in the Lions' defensive third. The resulting free kick found a Cazenovia head and resulted in the tying goal in the 83rd minute that would force the first overtime period this year for the blue and white.
After two additional overtime periods and a few more missed opportunities for the Lions, the game would end in a draw at 1-1.
Click here for postgame interview with Willingham.
"In terms of performance we did very, very, well for the majority of the game," said Donnelly. "Obviously we are disappointed not to have scored many more goals and to concede one late on. We have another very strong opponent tomorrow, but the boys are excited to put on a show and we are all looking forward to it."
Penn State Harrisburg hosts the second part of its homecoming weekend on Sunday against Morrisville State at 2 p.m.