Beaver rolls past Hazleton,11-0

By: Matylda Zamudio

BEAVER FALLS, Pa.—The Penn State Beaver men's soccer team tallied on another PSUAC match win after beating rivals Penn State Hazleton 11-0 in Saturday afternoon's home game.

In the first period, the Lions got down to business as freshman Mishael Garcia (Los Angeles/Alexander Hamilton) started off the scoring for Beaver after connecting on a pass by freshman Jake Ross (Munhall/Steel Valley) at the seventh minute, which he followed up with an unassisted goal four minutes later (2-0). At the 13th minute, Hazleton picked up two fouls, which afforded sophomore Danylo Yakymov (Kiev/Grand Private Lyceum) to score Beaver's third goal off a penalty kick (3-0). At the 21st minute, Garcia completed a hat trick after he took the feed from Ross once again to build a comfortable 4-0 lead for the Lions halfway through the first. Five minutes later, senior John Kazmierczyk (Conway/Quigley) outdid Garcia's hat trick with a flawless hat trick of his own, scoring three consecutive goals in an eight-minute span to give Beaver a 7-0 edge at half time.

In the second period, Garcia jumped right out and scored his fourth goal of the game only nine seconds off the break (8-0). The Lions kept the pressure on Hazleton, not allowing the visitors to successfully executed on any scoring opportunities and controlling the tempo of the game. At the 62nd minute, senior John Valiga (Ambridge) connected on a pass by sophomore RJ Long (Atco/Winslow Township) to give Hazleton a 9-0 deficit.  Sophomore Williams Cruz (Springfield/Robert E. Lee) then got the ball to Yakymov seven minutes later to tally up a double-digit lead for Beaver (10-0). While the hopes of a comeback started to fizzle out for Hazleton as the game clock wound down,  the Lions weren't done putting points on the board yet, as freshman Moucharaf Tchatikpi (Manhattan/Manhattan Center for Science & Math) shot in an unassisted goal straight into the net for the Lions to take an 11-0 win for the day.

Garcia led the offense for Beaver, scoring four goals on four shots with four on goal, followed by Kazmierczyk, who scored a hat trick with three goals on three shots with three on goal, and Yakymov finished with two goals on four shots with four on goal. Valiga and Tchatikpi each added on one goal apiece, while Ross led the team in assists with two.

At the net, freshman Julian Hauff (Frederick/Governor Thomas Johnson) goaltended for 90 minutes and had four saves against the four SOG he faced.

Beaver outshot Hazleton 43-6 and 7-1 on corner kicks.

After today's win, Beaver improves to 6-3 overall and holds the second-place spot (3-0) in the PSUAC conference standings.

The Lions will take on Penn State Greater Allegheny away in the second of three back-to-back PSUAC conference bouts. The game is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 3:15 p.m.