The captains lead Penn State men's soccer over Detroit Mercy

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Following an impressive 4-0 victory over Michigan on Sunday, Penn State returned to Jeffrey Field on Wednesday and put together another stellar performance, defeating Detroit Mercy 3-0

Like Sunday night, the co-captains led the blue and white again on Wednesday.

Co-captain and senior midfielder Peter Magione opened up the scoring in the sixth minute for the blue and white. Freshman defender Morgan Marshall got taken down by goalkeeper Quinn Tews at the top of the 18-yard box, drawing the penalty for Penn State.

Mangione then stepped to the spot and sent Tews the wrong way as the Hunt Valley, Maryland native confidently blasted a strike into the top left corner for his team and Big Ten-leading ninth goal of the season.

With the goal, Mangione extended his goal streak to five games and moved to a perfect 3-3 from the spot on the season.

“It makes me feel good to have five in a row,” Mangione said. “ Hopefully, I can make it six on Sunday.”

After struggling to generate much offense for the remainder of the first half, the blue and white turned to their other co-captain to create a chance, and he did much more than that.

Just four minutes out of half-time, co-captain and senior defender Femi Awodesu made an overlapping run with Mangione before Ben Liscum played a magnificent through ball to Awodesu, who made no mistake sending a right-footed blast past Tews and into the bottom right corner to double Penn State’s lead.

“We started the first half well, and then it was kinda lackadaisical for the rest of the half, " Awodesu said.“Jeff [Cook] just gave us some pointers, some ways to attack them, and we were able to carry that out.”

For the senior defender, it is the third time he has found the back of the net this season. The co-captains have now both scored in two consecutive games, the first time that has happened with them donning the armband.

Awodesu would earn Penn State a corner kick just three minutes later, and on the following set piece, Matthew Henderson would add to the Nittany Lions' lead when his corner kick managed to curl into the back of the net.

With the win, Penn State finishes their non-conference play with a record of 5-1-2.

Next up for the Nittany Lions is a crucial clash with the Badgers. If the blue and white can take down Wisconsin, they will claim the Big Ten Regular Season Championship.

“Every game from now on is do or die,” Mangione said.

Kick-off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

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