Penn State men’s soccer gets shut out in Big Ten home opener

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State suffered its third loss in a row to No. 7 Ohio State in its annual Mack Brady match.

Luciano Pechota’s goal on the Buckeyes’ 12th shot of the game put them up early and the Nittany Lions failed to answer as Ohio State cruised to a 5-0 finish.

“We’ve got to get refocused,” Jeff Cook said postgame. “The reality is, I’ve said it in the past, I’d rather lose one game four or five nothing than [multiple] games one nothing, but we need to put some points on the board urgently.”

The Buckeyes made the Nittany Lions sweat early. Attacking right from the start, pressure was immediately placed on Andrew Cooke between the pipes.

Penn State’s defense prevented Cooke from needing to make early saves but it failed to switch the field and shift into attack mode. As the game progressed, the defense tired and its mistakes were exploited by the Buckeyes.

Ohio State had 18 corners in the game, 13 of which happened in the first half.

“If you concede that many corner kicks, statistically you’re going to fall to your opponent,” Cook said.

The Nittany Lions didn’t get a shot off until the 33rd minute and it wasn’t even on target. The offense failed to ignite throughout the matchup and Cook said it takes playing harder for territory to start producing chances in transition.

“Ohio State overwhelmed us with the pressure and we couldn’t get behind as frequently as we wanted,” Cook said.

Cooke’s reflexes kept the game scoreless early on. Aston Milo in the 21st minute had a one-on-one look which the graduate keeper deflected away. The Buckeyes kept peppering him but Cooke maintained composure making four saves in a matter of minutes.

In the 28th minute, the ice was finally broken. Michael Adedokun cut the ball back and found Luciano Pechota at the six-yard box who fired a shot over the head of Cooke for the score.

A miscommunication on Ohio State’s 12th corner kick in the opening half proved costly. The Buckeyes profited off the Nittany Lions’ own goal to go up 2-0 before halftime.

Overall, Cook said the keeper did a good job considering the pressure he dealt with, and as of now, he remains the top option to keep between the pipes moving forward.

Van Danielson had a chance to shift the momentum but a sliding tackle from Siggi Magnusson stripped him of possession, preventing his straight-away opportunity against Patrick McLaughlin, Ohio State’s keeper.

Penn State opened the second half with a little more offensive aggression. However, Ohio State took the momentum right back over after David Ajagbe navigated his way through several defenders before finding Marko Borkovic to nail things home.

It didn’t get any easier for the Nittany Lions. Trying to clear out of the box, the ball found its way back to Pechota who scored his second of the night and left Cooke stunned.

The Buckeyes outshot the Nittany Lions 22-5 and the blue and white only had one shot on goal. Magnusson extended the lead to five within the final fifteen minutes off another corner kick.

Up next, Penn State plays Michigan State for a Friday night matchup back at Jeffrey Field.

Amanda Vogt is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email amandaevogt@gmail.com.