Box Score York, Pa. – The Penn State Abington men's soccer squad took a 1-0 lead into the second half earlier this afternoon against the seventh-ranked team in the country, York College (Pa.). However, the hosts used a strong second half attack to net two goals and defeat the Nittany Lions by a 2-1 scoreline. Senior Guy Sikpa netted the goal for the Nittany Lions, while senior goalkeeper Dan Saint-Pol made eight saves on the afternoon.
 
Penn State Abington (3-1, 0-0 NEAC) played a stingy brand of defense all afternoon, and started by holding the potent Spartan offense to just one shot on goal in the entire first half. In fact, it was the Nittany Lions who did their fair share of attacking, outshooting the hosts and in fact taking the lead on a brilliant counterattack. After conceding a corner kick in the 22^nd minute, the Blue and White cleared the ball immediately out to the midfield circle where Bryan Werner was the lone Nittany Lion that far up the pitch. Werner was able to turn with the ball and head upfield, beating his own man and cause the York defense to focus solely on stopping his run. This allowed Guy Sikpa, sprinting out of the penalty box after helping to defend the corner, to race alone into the York half and run onto a through pass from Werner. Sikpa took a five yard lead on the closest defender chasing him, and raced into the box where York goalkeeper Brad Schmidt came off his line to cut down the angle. Sikpa calmly curled a shot around the onrushing keeper and into the net, giving the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead over the seventh-ranked team in the country.

With York (3-0, 0-0 CAC) trailing by a goal entering the second half, even the casual onlookers could tell that the Nittany Lions would face an intense attack over the next 45 minutes. In fact, it was just thirty seconds in that the first real chance of the day came for the Spartans when Tobi Iguade got free at the top of the penalty box and sent a shot toward the right side of goal. However, Nittany Lions keeper Dan Saint-Pol was more than equal to the task, laying out with a dive to his left and snaring the ball out of the air to keep the clean sheet. Eight minutes later, Penn State Abington barely survived yet another attack. This time, the ball worked its way into the left side of the Nittany Lion box before a cross landed at the feet of Aaron Beale inside the six-yard box. The York striker let loose with a one-time shot that was sure to find the back of the wide open net, but instead only managed to blast it off the crossbar, keeping the Nittany Lions 1-0 lead intact.
 
With York spending more and more time in the attacking third, however, it seemed only a matter of time before they broke through, and in the 69^th minute they finally found the goal they had been looking for. After another buildup of play in the Nittany Lions end, the ball squirted free from a group of players and York's Chris Weaver took possession. Weaver took a few dribbles and let loose with a curling shot from just inside the 18, finding the right side of the net just past a diving Saint-Pol. The hosts could now smell blood in the water, and scored what would ultimately be the game-winner just six minutes later. A poor pass from a York midfielder towards Jake Hower seemed destined to be going out for a goal kick on the left side of the penalty box. Dan Saint-Pol came out to his right somewhat to help shepherd the ball out, but somehow Hower got to the ball and tried to kick it backwards to keep it in play. Instead of just staying in play, the ball took a very unlucky bounce off of Saint-Pol and trickled slowly all the way back across the face of goal. It bounced off the right post and barely trickled across the endline before any Nittany Lions defender could clear it out, giving York a 2-1 lead with just under fifteen minutes to play.
 
Penn State Abington fought valiantly over the closing minutes to try and tie the game back up. The best chance for the visitors came in the 87^th minute. After earning a corner kick, Mykola Lyakhovolsky sent a ball curling into the area, and Nick Marques rose above all others to send a sharp header towards the top of the goal. However, Schmidt came up with his best save of the game, diving to his left and stretching out his left arm to parry the ball just over the crossbar. The resulting corner kick was cleared out, and it was as close as the Nittany Lions would get the rest of the game. The loss is the first of the season for the Nittany Lions and moves their record to 3-1 overall. Penn State Abington will next hit the pitch on Wednesday for a match against Wesley in Dover, Delaware. Be sure to keep checking in at abingtonsports.com for all your news and notes on Penn State Abington athletics.