Box Score Philadelphia, Pa. – The 2013 men's soccer campaign got off to a roaring start early Friday night against the Griffins of Gwynedd-Mercy. The Nittany Lions lit off two goals in the opening fifteen minutes of the game, and it appeared as if the Blue and White were about to put a stomping on their opponents. However, it nearly all went for nothing when the visitors knotted the game up at 2-2 late. This set the stage for one of the more dramatic finishes in recent memory at Penn State Abington.
 
Junior forward Alex Martins picked right up where he left off last year, scoring the first goal of the season for the Nittany Lions just over six minutes into the game. Martins took a pass from freshman Julian Antal down the left side before cutting into the middle of the box and ripping a shot into the back of the net for Penn State Abington's first lead of the year. Just eight minutes later, another Abington veteran netted a goal of his own to double the Nittany Lions lead. This time, Martins started things with a brilliant run down the left side before cutting into the box with a nifty move along the endline. After a shot was blocked, the ball bounded around inside the box for a few moments. Suddenly, it trickled away from the mass of players in front of the net into an empty spot and right in front of senior Andre Lynahping. He knew exactly what to do with it, blasting a one-time shot into the back of the net and giving Penn State Abington a 2-0 lead in the blink of an eye.
 
Although many in the crowd sensed a blowout in the making, Gwynedd-Mercy decided to take things in a different direction. The visitors defense buckled down, and their offense finally broke through in the 40^th minute. A poor pass in the Abington defensive third was intercepted, leading to an odd-man rush for the Griffins. Ultimately, the attackers worked the ball across the top of the box to the open man on the left side, Chris Black. The forward ripped a shot that Penn State Abington goalkeeper Dan Saint-Pol was able to deflect, but only enough to merely deflect it into a different spot in the back of the net. After the dominating first half the Nittany Lions had put together, they now found themselves leading by just a 2-1 scoreline.
 
The goal also added some fresh life into the Gwynedd-Mercy squad, and the second half became a very back-and-forth affair with each team looking for a crucial next goal. In the end, it was the Griffins who found the back of the net once again. With just twenty minutes left to play, another scramble inside the penalty box led to a goal, as the ball squirted out to the top of the box for Kevin Sotell. Sotell laced a powerful shot into the right side of the net and evened the game at two goals apiece. Neither side could do anything else over the remaining twenty minutes, and although Penn State Abington dominated the first overtime period, they were still unable to come away with the winner. Finally, it was a fresh face who stepped up for the Nittany Lions and gave them the game-winning goal that their run of play deserved. Freshman Daniel Ortiz took a pass from Bryan Werner on the right side of the box and blasted a shot back across the goal mouth into the left side of the net to give Penn State Abington the golden goal and a 3-2 double OT victory.
 
With the win, the Nittany Lions move to 1-0 on the season, and will have a chance on Sunday afternoon to move that record to 2-0. Penn State Abington will take on the Tigers of Hampden-Sydney College at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington. Gametime is set for 1:00 pm.