Men’s Soccer Shuts Out Detroit Mercy
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Mitchel Bringolf and Mac Curran each scored a goal as Penn State (2-3-2) defeated Detroit Mercy (4-2-1), 2-0, Wednesday night at Jeffrey Field.
The Nittany Lions and the Titans exchanged chances throughout the first half, with Penn State recording seven shots and Detroit Mercy recording five shots, before the Lions started to dominate in the second half.
Penn State struggled early on, due to the man-to-man style that Detroit Mercy plays. The Lions haven’t faced any team that plays such a style.
“All the challenges were very different for our team tonight and after the first 15 minutes I think they figured it out and we got some fantastic passing patterns,” Penn State head coach Bob Warming said.
It only took Penn State six minutes into the second half to grab the lead when Bringolf got on the end of a lose ball inside the Detroit Mercy six-yard box and tapped it into the back of the net.
“The ball just fell in front of me, I don’t even know how it got there,” Bringolf said. “I think the other team hit it there and I just open net, tapped it in.”
This was Bringolf’s first career goal.
“The guy’s awesome,” Warming said. “The guy’s amazing, he’s a favorite on the team and he gets a great goal for us, just the right spot at the right time.”
Curran added a goal from about 20 yards out in the 68th minute to put the Lions up 2-0.
This game marked the end of the Nittany Lion’s goalless streak, which lasted two games, dating back to their game on Sept. 8 against Saint Francis.
“If you just keep fighting and fighting and fighting and doing the right things, things are going to get better,” Warming said. “It’s been the theme of our team.”
Penn State midfielder Aaron Molloy spent the night dispossessing Detroit Mercy players and dishing out perfect passes to his teammates.
In the 25th minute, Molloy stole the ball from a Titan’s player in the midfield circle and went on a 40 yard run before slipping the ball through to forward Aymar Sigue, who passed the ball into the back of the net before the play was called off for offside.
Molloy also recorded two shots on goal.
“Tonight was family,” Curran said. “We felt like we lacked that in the last couple of games, bad posture tonight was just unbelievable…everyone was playing for each other.”
This may have been the Nittany Lions’ best game of the season. Penn State outshot Detroit Mercy 14-10, with Penn State forward Christian Sloan leading the way with three shots.
“We had a team meeting after the last loss and we sat down and just said what we need to do and we went out there and got it done,” Curran said. “We started to play for each other.”
Penn State next goes on the road to Madison to take on Wisconsin on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Mason Gallina is a senior majoring in print journalism. To contact him, email mason.gallina13@gmail.com.
