The Penn State men’s soccer team (5-1-1) used 12 subs Sunday afternoon in a 3-0 win over Aldephi (1-6).
It was the final test for the Lions before conference play, which begins on Friday against Wisconsin.
The Nittany Lions controlled play all throughout as they faced an Adelphi side, which coming off a 7-0 defeat at Bucknell Friday night with both sides on one day of rest.
This gave coach Bob Warming a chance to start some of his bench players as goalie Emmanuel Martin filled in for Andrew Wolverton, Drew Klingenberg got his first start and played 50 minutes while attacker Kelton Cheney played 27 minutes and scored the first goal of his career.
Forward Mikey Minutillo also gave the Lions a boost. He started his second game since coming back from a sprained right MCL.
“Everyone has benefited from a player like Mikey,” Warming said. “He’s added so much to our team, just have to hope he stays healthy.”
The Lions used possession all throughout passing with their defenders around the halfway line in the first half to gain the advantage and pick apart the Panthers’ defense. The Lions had the upper hand on the Panthers all afternoon out-shooting them 17-6, including an 8-1 advantage in the first half. This allowed them to put the game away early.
Minutillo scored for the first time this season, in his second game back from a three-game absence. In the 27th minute, Julian Cardona won possession and slid it to Minitullo, who shot it past the Panthers’ goalie, in a 3-on-2.
This goal allowed the Lions’ offense to get more comfortable with the game with the defenders coming forward to add the extra attacking dimension.
A Lion was fouled 10 minutes later, allowing the team to gain a two-goal advantage. Forward Minh Vu sent a cross in that was headed home by Daniel Burnham, which was his second goal of the season.
Warming used the second half and the two-goal cushion to get his subs some more experience. Cheney started the second half and looked a danger throughout the entire half.
In the 67th minute, Cheney scored the first goal of his collegiate career off a bouncing ball in the box that he sent to the goalies left side.
“My teammates played me a great ball and I was able to score,” Cheney said.
From there, the Lion’s focused on getting possession and getting the younger players some experience.
Red shirt freshman goalie Danny Sheerin was subbed in to play the final nine minutes and see the game out.
“We were able to pick each other up and put this team away,” Cheney said.
