Box Score Oakford, Pa. - After a long preseason of tinkering and preparation, head coach David Castellanos and the rest of his staff were by all appearances very excited to get their Penn State Abington men's soccer team on the field for their season opener against Cairn tonight. After a very rough first half, things we definitely not going as planned. Castellanos and the rest of the Nittany Lions still came away happy on the night, however, as a fantastic second-half performance and a little overtime magic led to a 2-1 victory for Penn State Abington.
 
Though the stat sheet would lead one to believe that the first half was completely equal, to the eye of the beholder, it looked to be anything but. Cairn raced out of the gates and earned their first shot and first corner kick less than a minute into the game. After the first ten minutes, the action evened out, and the game became a back-and-forth affair, with shots and chances for each side. In fact, after the 15 minute mark, Penn State Abington recorded a run of play that included a corner and several near-miss shots of their own. However, in the 27^th minute, things all turned back around in favor of the Highlanders.
 
After being pressured hard in the midfield, Penn State Abington passed the ball all the way back to freshman goalkeeper James Carlin. Carlin had plenty of time to control the ball and redistribute it up to one of his own defensive players. This defender, in turn, attempted to make a square pass across the top of the box to his fellow defender. The pass was scuffed, however, and Cairn forward Ahron Park was right on top of the play the moment it happened. Park swooped in and collected the ball at the top of the penalty box. Carlin raced out to cut off the angle and meet him, but Park calmly assessed his options and slotted a shot over the right shoulder of the Nittany Lions keeper and high into the left side of the net. From this point on, Cairn seemed to have all the momentum in the first half, and Penn State Abington was fortunate to make it to halftime only trailing by a score of 1-0.
 
When the teams came out for the second half, however, it seemed like a whole new Nittany Lions squad came to play. The team put Cairn under intense attack and constantly pressured the ball. This improved play led to several opportunities to tie the game up, and in the 61^st minute, Penn State Abington did just that. After a run of several corner kicks that the Highlanders cleared out of danger across their own endline, the Nittany Lions were awarded yet another corner, which senior Julian Ward stepped up to take. He ran up and swirled a right-footed “in-swinger” towards the mass of humanity that had collected inside the Highlanders penalty box awaiting the delivery. Somehow, the ball sneaked its way through all the bodies and feet and was headed directly for the far side of the netting. A Highlanders defender swooped in to try and clear the ball of the line, and managed to get his foot on the ball, but by this time it was too late. The ball had crossed the line, and all the defender accomplished was to rocket it into the top of the net himself.
 
With the goal from Ward, the game again took on the back-and-forth, frenetic pace which it had seen earlier. Both teams came away with plenty of chances, but by the end of regulation, the score was still knotted at 1-1. The teams headed into the first overtime period after a short rest, and again both squads looked hungry for the game winning goal. That final bit of quality or touch needed to accomplish this was not there, however, and both teams headed into the second and final overtime period knowing that if nobody scored in this one, the game would end in a 1-1 draw.
 
This was not to be the case however. After a long pass from the midfield ended up deep in Highlander territory along the left sideline, a Highland slid in and fouled the Nittany Lion who had possession. With the clock already winding into the sixth minute of the second overtime, this would probably be one of the last good scoring opportunities for either side. In stepped junior midfielder Philip Curry, who had been a rock in the defensive half for the Nittany Lions all night and who had already sent in at least four dangerous balls on previous free kicks throughout the night. This time, Curry let loose with a beautiful, arcing high ball that swung deftly into the middle of the box. Freshman Matt Howard launched himself up to meet the ball and nailed a header directly over the head of the keeper and off the bottom edge of the crossbar, ricocheting into the goal to seal the deal for the Nittany Lions.
 
After a disappointing start to the game, the Nittany Lions and coach Castellanos will be very pleased with the effort put forth late in the game and the ability of the team to respond under pressure. Penn State Abington brings their record up to 1-0 to start the season off on the right foot. Their next matchup comes on the road next Saturday afternoon as they travel to Keuka College. Game time is set for 3 p.m.