MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – A red hot start that saw Susquehanna score three goals on just four attempts put Penn State Harrisburg in a hole it couldn't climb out of on Wednesday night, Oct. 9. The Lions were competitive throughout and were even with the visitors in nearly every statistical category. Unfortunately, the Blue & White never manufactured the offensive flurry needed to get back into the match and fell to the Crusaders 4-0.
Susquehanna struck early in the first half when John Boylan gathered a pass from teammate David Trank and put his shot past Penn State Harrisburg goalkeeper Brandon Hoover (Lancaster, Pa. / Pequea Valley) in the game's sixth minute.
The Lions fought back and had a chance to even the score when freshman Jonathan Vanaskie (Shamokin, Pa. / Shamokin Area) raced down the left sideline and drew the Crusaders' keeper, Matt Salsman, out of goal. Despite being bumped by a trailing defender, the frosh was able to keep his balance long enough to nudge a shot towards the empty net. Unfortunately for the home team, Vanaskie's ball didn't have enough velocity to reach the goal line before a trailing Crusader cleared the ball out of harm's way in the 17th minute.
Even worse was the turn of events that culminated mere seconds later when Susquehannna's Paul Siekmann's pass from midfield found the foot of teammate Andrew Murphy in stride as he raced toward the Blue & White frame. Murphy struck the ball into the right side of the net and upped the visitors' advantage to 2-0 17:40 into the contest.
Hoover turned away an attempt by Susquehanna's Andrew Hayes in the 27th minute but a bad bounce prevented him from making another save a few minutes later. The Crusaders' Gannon Keller made a pass to Kyle Semmel in the Lions' box and Semmel connected on a shot from close range that ricocheted off a Penn State Harrisburg player's side and into the net in the 33rd minute.
The second half started similarly to the first as the visitors tacked on another score, this time just a little over four minutes into the period when Murphy ripped a perfectly placed shot from nearly 20 yards out over the outstretched arms of Penn State Harrisburg goalie Nick Deloglos (Mechanicsburg, Pa. / Mechanicsburg Area) to cap the match's scoring.
Deloglos kept the deficit to four by making two spectacular back-to-back diving saves in the 77th minute, denying an up close and personal shot by Susquehanna's Joe DeLuca and Samuel Tana's rebound attempt moments later.
The Lions did all they could to cut into the Crusaders' lead by turning up the intensity offensively and getting off six second half shots. Every time they fired, however, either the Susquehanna goalie or a few inches left or right kept the home team from getting on the board.
The match was evenly contested all night long. Susquehanna got off 13 total shots, nine of which were on goal, compared to the Lions' 12 attempts, six of which were on target. The Crusaders made six saves while Penn State Harrisburg made five. The biggest disparity came in corner kicks as the visitors racked up ten compared to one for the Blue & White.
Despite the loss, Penn State Harrisburg Head Coach Seamus Donnelly was pleased with his players' effort and positive demeanor postgame, as well as their concern for one of their own following an early injury.
"First off, full credit to Susquehanna; they are a very good, well-coached team," he said after the match. "For us, this is a young team that's learning an awful lot of tough lessons in a very short period of time. But the key is that we do learn and apply what we are learning to our own game as soon as possible.
"I can honestly say that, all things considered, spirits are still high within the group," he continued. "That is a testament to each and every player in there. Right now though, our main concern is for Austin's (Achenbach) knee. Hopefully he gets good news."
The defeat drops the Blue & White to 3-7-1 on the year and the match with the Crusaders was the team's final non-conference outing of the season. The Lions get back into the swing of Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) play this weekend when they travel to St. Mary's (Md.) for their next matchup on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 12.