The Lancaster Bible College men's soccer team won its third game of the week on Friday, as the Chargers opened North Eastern Athletic Conference play with a 2-1 victory over Penn St. Abington at the Donald H. Funk Field. The victory over the Nittany Lions, a rematch of last season's NEAC Final, moves the Chargers to 4-1 overall this season and 1-0 in conference play, while the Nittany Lions are now 1-3 overall and 0-1 in NEAC action.
 
How it Happened: Despite Friday's contest being the NEAC opener for each team, the Chargers and Nittany Lions brought immediate intensity and physicality to the game on Friday. The teams exchanged possession over the first 15 minutes, with each squad earning a corner kick try.
 
The Nittany Lions had a golden opportunity in the 19^th minute, as Sebastian Krysztofowicz drilled a shot from 22 yards out that smacked the crossbar and came right down. The Penn St. Abington bench thought it may have gone across the goal line, but neither official signaled goal, and play continued.
 
Krysztofowicz made amends with the crossbar six minutes later when he collected a loose ball in front and put another shot off the bar, this time however, it went over the line and into the goal for a 1-0 Penn St. Abington lead.
 
The game continued to be physical on both sides of the field, but Lancaster Bible finally got free in the 35^th minute, as Kedric Yoder raced down the right side and fired a shot that was saved, but went right to the feet of Rusty Risteen who scored into an empty net for his first goal of the season.
 
Lancaster Bible took a 2-1 lead with 28 seconds left in the opening half, as Risteen chipped the ball ahead to Chad Tolson, and Tolson flicked the ball over top of Penn St. Abington goalkeeper Esteban Leon from 25 yards out and it bounced off the left post and into the back of the net.
 
Both teams had offensive chances over the first 10 minutes of the second half, as Lancaster Bible goalkeeper Jake Deterline made a pair of saves, and the Chargers' Dan Bewersdorff hit a shot that went just wide to the right of the goal.
 
Lancaster Bible had another solid chance just past the 60^th minute when Rama Mugisha tried to chip the ball over the goalkeeper, but Leon was up to the task, and dove to make the save.
 
Deterline took his turn making a solid save in the 70^th minute, as Krysztofowicz had a free kick right outside the box. Krysztofowicz hit it to the far right side of the net, but Deterline dove over and punched it away, preserving the 2-1 lead.
 
The Chargers had another chance to add an insurance goal in the 79^th minute, but Tolson's try from the top of the box missed just to the right.
 
The seconds ticked down painstakingly slow for the Chargers over the final 10 minutes, as the home team fended away any attack Penn St. Abington could muster. Lancaster Bible held much of the possession over the final minute, and earned a corner with 15 seconds to play, and let time expire as they set it up.
 
Statistically Speaking: Penn St. Abington outshot the Chargers, 17-12, including 9-5 in shots on goal…The Nittany Lions also led in corner kicks, 5-4, while each team had 18 fouls…Deterline finished with eight saves, while Leon had three…Risteen finished with three points, as he had a goal and an assist.
 
The Coach Says: "I like that we didn't sit on the one-goal lead and pressured them for 90 minutes," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Tom Ardt said. "We had success with that early in the game, and didn't stop doing it. The guys came back fit from Wednesday's game, and we were ready to play today. The compete-level was awesome today, and we played well."
 
On the Three-Game Week: "I'm proud of the guys for executing our game plan today, especially because we worked on these things a week ago, and the guys were able to draw back and remember the specifics we talked about," Ardt said. "We really didn't practice hard on our two off days this week, and I'm pleased we were able to execute each game this week, as it required different ideas and plans."
 
News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 4-6-2 all-time against Penn St. Abington…Friday was the fifth of a six-game home stand to begin the 2019 season…Lancaster Bible's win was its first in the series since Oct. 15, 2015 when the Chargers defeated the Nittany Lions, 4-1 in Lancaster…Tolson was the first Lancaster Bible player to score twice this season, as the first seven goals of the year were scored by seven different people.
 
Up Next: For the second time this season Lancaster Bible will have a week off between contests, as the Chargers are back on the field on Saturday, Sept. 21, as they host Penn St. Harrisburg at 1 p.m.