Beaver brings down Greater Allegheny, 6-0
By: Matylda Zamudio
PLEASANT HILLS, Pa.—The Penn State Beaver men's soccer team topped PSUAC host Penn State Greater Allegheny 6-0 in Tuesday's conference bout.
In the first period, Beaver did a good job moving the ball, which paid off when sophomore Danylo Yakymov (Kiev/Grand Private Lyceum) got Beaver on the board first with an unassisted goal at the 23rd minute. Sophomore Tyler Van Kirk (West Mifflin) match Yakymov's unassisted goal with one of his own four minutes later, giving the Lions a 2-0 lead over Greater Allegheny. Two minutes later, Yakymov shelled out his second unassisted goal to give Beaver a 3-0 at halftime.
After the break, freshman Mishael Garcia (Los Angeles/Alexander Hamilton) connect on a pass by Yakymov, giving Penn State Greater Allegheny a 4-0 deficit only three minutes into the second period. Three minutes later, sophomore Williams Cruz (Springfield/Robert E. Lee) fed the ball to freshman Jake Ross (Munhall/Steel Valley) to tally up Beaver's fifth goal. At the 57-minute mark, Yakymov got the ball from Garcia to earn a hat trick in the game off his third goal and built a 6-0 lead for Beaver. The Lions continued to lay strong defense on their side of the field, not allowing Greater Allegheny to answer with a single goal to take a 6-0 win for the day.
Yakymov led Beaver with three goals and two assists, followed by Garcia, who also scored two goals on four shots with two on goal. Van Kirk finished with one goal on one shot and one on goal. Ross (Munhall/Steel Valley) finished with one goal as well. Sophomore RJ Long (Atco/Winslow Township) led the team in shots with seven.
At the net, freshman Julian Hauff (Frederick/Governor Thomas Johnson) goaltended for 90 minutes and had one save against the one SOG he faced.
Beaver outshot Greater Allegheny 37-1 and 11-0 on corner kicks.
After today's win, Beaver improves to 7-3 overall and is tied for first place in the PSUAC conference standings (4-0). The Lions will host PSUAC rivals Penn State Mont Alto in their next game Monday, Oct. 7. The game starts at 4 p.m.