McKeesport, Pa. – Coming off a loss last week against Mount Aloysius in their 2017/18 season opener, the Penn State Greater Allegheny Soccer Team (0-1, 0-0) is looking to rebound when they travel to Mont Alto, Pa. on Saturday September 16th for the Penn State University Athletic Conference opener against Penn State Mont Alto (0-4, 0-0).
In the opening game of the season, the PSUGA soccer team could muster just two goals in the contest coming on an own goal and a PK as they fell to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference powerhouse by the score of 6-2. Every player saw minutes on the field and head coach Dale Odim was pleased with what he saw in the contest.
“We are very happy that we were able to get a look at everyone and we now have a pretty good idea of each player’s capabilities,” said Odim. “We were pleased with the play from our back four.”
Now the team has its sights set on its PSUAC conference opener against Penn State Mont Alto, who fell their last time out to Christendom College by the final score of 5-3. In conference play last season, the PSUGA soccer team finished with a record of 4-3-1 and would fall to conference foe Penn State New Kensington in the First-Round of the PSUAC Playoffs.
In last year’s matchup between these two teams, it would be Penn State Greater Allegheny who came out on top thanks to four goals scored in the last 20 minutes of play. Marin Marina (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) contributed three goals in the contest while Jake Thieret (Port Vue, Pa./South Allegheny) had two goals of his own as well as two assists. In the game PSUGA out shot Mont Alto 40-6 and had more shots on goal, 16-6.
These conference foes have met up four times since the 2013/14 season and PSUGA has the advantage with a record of 3-1 in those four contests. When the two teams play at PSU-Mont Alto the series is tied since 2013/14 with each of the two teams collecting a win.
The PSUGA soccer team is looking to start out 1-0 in PSUAC Conference play for the first time since the 2015/16 season when they opened with a 3-1 win over Penn State New Kensington. They would finish that season with a 5-6 conference record which was good for a fourth place finish in the PSUAC.
The match is set to kick off in Mont Alto, Pa. at 1 p.m for Antietam Humane Society (AHS) Dog Days. The Soccer team has two conference games this weekend as they will be on the road to take on Penn State York on Sunday September 17th at 1 p.m.
