September 30, 2012
A BIG WIN IN THE BIG TEN
Petts leads Hoosiers with OT goal

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A goal in the 106th minute from Harrison Petts gave Indiana 1-0 victory in a crucial Big Ten matchup against Penn State at Jeffrey Field Saturday night

With the win Indiana improves to 7-2-1 o and 2-0 in conference play. Both Hoosier Big Ten wins have come on the road. Penn State falls to 6-3-0 and 1-1 in Big Ten play.

“I am really proud of the guys,” said Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley. “Penn State is a good team and I thought we did a lot of good things and created a lot of good chances. As the game continued you knew it was going to take a great play and Harry did that for us.

A back-and-forth affair which saw momentum swing in both directions during overtime finally ended in the Hoosiers’ favor with Petts’ first goal of the year and his first score since his freshman season.

A.J. Corrado played the ball back to Petts, who found himself with space at about the 18 yards box. The junior took a half shot and saw his attempt nick off a Penn State defender and into the lower left of the goal past PSU goalkeeper Emmanuel Martin.

“I got the first one of my career here freshman year and it is good to get another one here,” Petts said. “I think I like this field.”

The goal came despite being down a man after defender Kerel Bradford was sent off in the 103rd minute on his second yellow. Both Bradford fouls were potential goal-saving tackles near the 18-yard box.

The Hoosiers got off to a strong start in the match. Three minutes into the game freshman Kyle Sparks got behind defense and had a one-on-one look with the keeper but did not get a shot off before Martin smother the ball to end the scoring threat.

Indiana had a scoring threat 15 minutes in when off a Corrado corner kick, Patrick Doody played the initial PSU clearance back into the box. Eriq Zavaleta got a foot on it, but a Nittany Lion defender cleared it off the line. The rebound also went to Zavaleta, but his shot was wide right.

In the 23rd minute, Doody pushed the ball past a defender, flew around him and sent the ball into box. Zavaleta was on it but pushed his shot just wide.

Early in the second half the momentum shifted to the Nittany Lions. Three minutes into the second period, Eli Dennis’ header off a corner kick was saved by Luis Soffner
In the 51st minute, Soffner tallied another save on a shot from Hasani Sinclair. No Nittany Lions were in the area to take a rebound shot as the ball spilled out after the stop.

The Hoosiers had an opportunity in the 52nd minute when a Corrado corner kick cleared was cleared out by the Penn Statedefense. Matt McKain took a crack from 25 yards out that was wide left.

With the clock winding down in regulation a shot from Dylan Lax at close range was blocked.

With just under two minutes left in the first overtime period, a gift ball for Zavaleta in the box went unused as he couldn't get a shot off when a defender closed in on him. Penn State dominated the first overtime period, out-shooting the Hoosiers 4-0.

The Hoosiers continue their road swing a bit closer to home as they travel to Lexington, Ky. to take on the Kentucky Wildcats on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. ET.