Beaver storms past New Kensington

By: Matylda Zamudio

New Brighton, Pa. – The Penn State Beaver men's soccer team were back at it on Tuesday to face off against conference rival Penn State New Kensington. The men have picked up steam in the latter half of the season and after last Saturday's win against Penn State Lehigh Valley, Beaver took second place in the PSUAC standing. The men look to keep things rolling and snag another conference win today against New Kensington.

At the beginning of the first period, the men came out strong on offense, taking early possession of the ball. Beaver maintained possession well for the first 20 minutes of the first, but New Kensington played tough defense and didn't allow Beaver to connect any kicks to the net. The teams went back and forth in midfield until Darrion Gilmore got open in the backfield and assisted Shelton Hilliard to score Beaver's first goal nine minutes later. The teams battled for the next 15 minutes and both goalies made saves before ending the first (1-0).

As the second period started, New Kensington won the ball on a fast break and scored a goal two minutes in. But Beaver's Kevin Colindres answered right back less than two minutes later and scored Beaver's second goal on an assist by Danylo Yakymov (2-1). As the game went on, the team got physical with each and both received a yellow card at the 59th minute. Then in the 62nd minute, Hilliard launched a ball at the 12-yard line and scored his second goal of the night, putting Beaver up 3-1. Beaver remained focus and did a good job winning the ball in the final portion of the second. With only 20 minutes left, Yakymov dribbled past a defender and scored a goal. In the end, Beaver took the game 4-1.

After Tuesday's win, Beaver improves to 7-4 overall in the regular season and 5-1 in the PSUAC standings and retain second place. Beaver will be on the road this Saturday, Oct. 13 to play against Penn State Wilkes-Barre in the team's second conference game of the week. The game begins at 2 p.m.