Box Score STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – The Franciscan men's soccer team played in its third overtime game of the season but came out on the wrong end of a 2-1 decision as the visiting Penn State Altoona Lions earned a tough victory Wednesday afternoon.
The Barons (4-7-1, 1-3 AMCC) quickly took the 1-0 lead as sophomore Leo Herrmann notched his league-leading 14th goal of the season just 6:48 into action. Freshman Michael Bobak found Herrmann with the ball as he making a run at the defense and Herrmann shot it hard to the back right corner of the net for the early lead.
The Lions (7-3-1, 1-1-1 AMCC) had an answer, however, and Jordan Crist tapped in a rebound off of Alex Bartlett's initial shot that senior keeper Edward Huber had to dive to his right to save. The ball trickled off of Huber's hand in front of Crist who easily tapped it in the goal.
The Barons appeared to take a 2-1 lead as senior Dan Binette headed a pass from Herrmann past the Lion goalie but an unfortunate offsides call brought the goal back and the two teams took the 1-1 tie in to the break.
Senior John Imbimbo and junior Joseph Duran came out of the half shooting as they got off two shots right out of the gate but could not get past the Lion keeper and the score remained tied.
The Lions, too, continued to pepper the Franciscan goal but PSA couldn't hit the mark and Huber needed just one save in the half to preserve the tie.
The two teams headed to overtime, both looking to improve on their standings in the AMCC rankings with a win. Duran had the best chance for the Barons early in the first overtime period, but his header went just high of the net.
Just after the halfway mark, Crist ended the game for the Lions as he collected a cross in front of the net from Michael Carrigan and shot it to the low right corner to give Penn State Altoona the 2-1 victory.
The Lions outshot the Barons 16-14 while Huber posted four saves to his Lion counterpart's three.
Duran led the Barons with five shots while Herrmann was close behind with four.
The Barons travel to Buffalo, NY to face Medaille in a key AMCC matchup on Sunday at 1:00 pm.
