The Ohio State men’s soccer team finished the season with a final record of 6-7-5. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
Seeded No. 6, the Ohio State men’s soccer team lost in penalties 4-3 due to two saves by No. 2-seeded Penn State’s fifth-year goalkeeper Kris Shakes.
The semifinal matchup between the Buckeyes (6-7-5 Big Ten 3-4-1) and the Nittany Lions (11-3-4 Big Ten 4-2-2) took place at Jeffrey Field in University Park, Pennsylvania, Wednesday.
The Buckeyes got on the board early off a penalty shot taken by senior midfielder Laurence Wootton, giving them a 1-0 lead. This opportunity came off a foul by freshman defender Mohamed Cisset in the box.
A close attempt for Buckeye sophomore midfielder Luciano Pechota came and went when he attempted a shot in the box at 22:10 that was blocked by Shakes, denying a possible 2-0 lead. This was one of two saves that Shakes had in the contest before penalties.
At 23:40, a goal came to tie them at 1-1 apiece from Nittany Lion freshman forward Samson Kpardeh, who shot from outside the box, finding the bottom right corner of the net. Kpardeh’s goal was assisted by junior forward Atem Kato and Shakes.
The first half ended with the Buckeyes able to maintain the tempo as they had four shot attempts to the Nittany Lions’ three.
The second half consisted of Penn State taking control with a shot ratio of 9 to 3.
The Buckeyes had a close attempt at 56:34 from freshman midfielder Andre Roberts, whose shot was saved by Shakes at the bottom center of the net.
In the last minute of regulation, the closest attempt of the second half by Nittany Lion freshman defender Morgan Marshall was blocked by Buckeye sophomore defender Donny Williams to keep them tied 1-1 and force extra time.
In the first half of extra time, Buckeye sophomore forward Tanner Creech had an advantage in a counterattack but got stopped by Shakes before he could get a shot attempt off.
Both defenses continued to hold each other off for the rest of the 20-minute overtime to force it to go into penalty kicks.
Before the penalties happened, the Buckeyes subbed off redshirt-junior goalkeeper Peter Van Euwen, who had eight saves in the match, for redshirt-sophomore goalkeeper Max Trejo. Trejo is the usual starter, but didn’t play because he felt ill before the game.
Each team took five penalty shots, and the Nittany Lions ultimately scored four to the Buckeyes’ three, allowing them to advance to the finals of the Big Ten tournament.
Shakes, who won Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year honors, played a large role, saving two of the five penalty attempts to secure their spot in the conference finals.
This ended the Buckeyes’ tournament run and capped off the end of the Ohio State men’s soccer season.
