The Lancaster Bible College men's soccer team won its second straight game on Tuesday, coming up with a huge 2-1 victory over Penn College to take over sole possession of second place in the North Eastern Athletic Conference standings. Joel Hughes connected for a penalty kick goal with 1:19 to play to give the Chargers the victory.
 
Lancaster Bible is now 7-6-1 overall this season, and 6-2 in NEAC play, while the Wildcats dropped to 5-6-1 overall and 5-3 in NEAC action.
 
Game Recap: Penn College got on the board early in the first half, as Matthew Yoder scored a pretty goal off a feed from Colton Wartman for his second goal of the year. Lancaster Bible immediately began pressing for the equalizer, as the Chargers fired five shots over the next 15 minutes, but came up empty and teams eventually went to halftime with the scoreboard reading the same way.
 
Both teams had offensive chances early in the second half, as both goalies had to make saves to preserve the score. The Chargers finally tied the game at 57:38 when Chad Tolson took a pretty pass from Jared Jordan, and scored his fourth goal of the season.
 
The teams traded possession over the next 30 minutes, as the Chargers had two corner kick opportunities, while the Wildcats had one. With just under two minutes to play, Lancaster Bible junior Kedric Yoder got loose in the box on the right-hand side and was fouled, causing the referee to blow his whistle and award the Chargers a penalty kick.
 
Lancaster Bible junior Joel Hughes stepped up, and after curling around the ball on his run up, put the ball into the upper right-hand corner to give the Chargers a 2-1 advantage.
 
Penn College never threatened in the final minute, and the Chargers had won their second straight.
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible outshot the Wildcats, 14-10, including a 7-4 edge in shots on goal…The Chargers had eight corner kicks, while Penn College had three…Hughes' goal was his first of the season…Lancaster Bible goalkeeper Jake Deterline made three saves for his seventh win of the season...Jordan has assists in three straight games, and is now second on the team with three assists, and nine points.
 
The Coach Says: "This is a huge result for us, and we knew it was going to be a battle and a great game with Penn College," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Tom Ardt said. "I thought our midfield played some of their best soccer of the season, and it was great to see Jared Jordan in the attack, and create the first goal, and then a great finish from Chad Tolson."
 
On the game-winner: "Kedric earned the game-winning goal with his dribbling in the box, and Joel stepped up as a leader and finished the penalty," Ardt said.
 
On Tuesday and the home stretch: "Overall a great effort from every single guy, and now we look ahead to a big weekend in New York," Ardt said.
 
Information Hodge Podge: Lancaster Bible is now 4-1 all-time against Penn College…After dropping the first game of the all-time series between the two teams, the Chargers have now defeated the Wildcats four straight times…Lancaster Bible is now 4-3 at home this season, and 4-1 in home NEAC games…The Chargers are outscoring opponents, 14-5 in the second half of games this season…The penalty kick goal was the second of the season for the Chargers, as Jordan converted one in the 4-1 victory over Penn St. Berks on Sept. 8…Lancaster Bible has now won six or more conference games in each of the past five seasons.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible heads to upstate New York this weekend to take on Cazenovia on Saturday at 3 p.m., and Morrisville State on Sunday at 2 p.m.