SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Penn State men’s soccer comes home with a 1-1 tie in a road contest against Syracuse at SU Soccer Stadium in Syracuse, New York. Midfielder Freddie Bell was the difference maker on the scoresheet for the Blue and White.

Penn State and Syracuse both moved to a record of 1-1-1 with the draw.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First half

The first half opened with back-and-forth play in the midfield as neither team could build a strong attack until Syracuse finally broke through, volleying a short clear attempt by the Nittany Lions atop the box. The shot took a deflection on its way to the back of the net in the 13th minute to give the home team the edge.

PSU settled in as a response, building up multiple chances but not capitalizing until the 42nd minute when captain Freddie Bell collected a loose ball atop the Orange 18 and buried it behind the Syracuse netminder.

Second half

Davy Leavey received the games first card of the match in the 53rd minute, and the build up from the resulting free kick ended up with the Orange getting a look inside of the 18 less than a minute later. Jonathan Evans tallied his first career save on a magnificent goal line dive to prevent the Penn State deficit.

Leavey took a chance at goal, rocketing a shot from over 25 yards out but an acrobatic dive by the ‘Cuse goaltender prevented the tally in the 68th minute. Malick Daouda got a look slightly closer less than four minutes later, but the opposing goalie once against made the diving save to keep the scoreline at 1-1.

Bell and Matthew Henderson each received a yellow card in the 74th minute, Bell’s off a tackle and Henderson for defending his fellow captain to the official.

Penn State strung together three different shots after the cards, but none found a home.

Evans came up big one last time, coming out to the top of the penalty area to sour a Syracuse one-on-none breakaway in the final 30 seconds of the contest, salvaging the point for PSU.

OF NOTE

Evans’s save was the first for the Nittany Lions this season.

Bell’s goal marked his first collegiate score.

UP NEXT

The Nittany Lions return home this weekend for the second home contest of the season, taking on No. 23 Missouri State on Monday, September 1 at Jeffrey Field. Kickoff in University Park, Pennsylvania is set for 4 p.m. Action will be streamed live on B1G+.