Penn State takes down Rutgers en route to the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State avenged their regular season loss to Rutgers on Friday evening, defeating the Scarlet Knights in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament by a score of 3-1.

Following some solid first-half chances from both sides, it would be the blue and white who would open the scoring as the first half was coming to a close.

In the 42nd minute, Matthew Henderson played a short corner to Caden Grabfelder, who sent a beautiful cross toward the back post that allowed fellow freshman Mohamed Cisset to climb the ladder and head it past Ciarian Dalton to give the Nittany Lions the lead.

“I felt we had produced some good offensive play in the first half but didn’t have anything to show for it,” head coach Jeff Cook said. “So I was thrilled that the guys executed so well, and Mohamed’s header was fantastic.”

After withstanding an early second-half press from the Scarlet Knights, the Nittany Lions doubled their advantage in the 54th minute.

Morgan Marshall sent a pass into the box that found Peter Mangione, who sent a right-footed blast into the bottom left corner for his 10th goal of the season.

“Throughout my Penn State career, we’ve always been a team that in the second half dominates because we feel like we’re fitter and the other team gets tired, and we just don’t,” Magione said. “We just keep going.”

Mangione, who was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year before the match, became the first player in the conference this season to reach double-digit goals with his 54th-minute strike.

Rutgers did their best to cut the deficit to one, but Kris Shakes made some herculean-type saves to keep the Scarlet Knights off the board.

“He played really well tonight,” Cook said about Shakes postgame.

The fifth-year goalkeeper, who was named the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year before the match, would finish the contest matching his season-high save total with six.

The blue and white would get an insurance marker in the 75th minute when Freddie Bell sent a long ball forward that Van Danielson ran onto before heading it over top of Dalton and using his right foot to slot it into the vacated goal.

An 88th-minute howler from Nick Collins would finally get the Scarlet Knights on the board, but the offensive came a little too late as Penn State killed off the final 120 seconds to hang on to the 3-1 win in the side's first-ever Big Ten Tournament meeting.

With the win, Penn State moves onto the semi-finals while Rutgers season, barring an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, comes to an end.

Next up for the Nittany Lions is the aforementioned semi-finals of the Big Ten Tournament, as the blue and white will host Ohio State on Wednesday, with the kick-off time still being determined.

Ben Palillo is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email bgp5079@psu.edu.