BOX SCORE
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Hartford men's soccer team went 110 minutes with the 15th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions on Sunday afternoon, but neither team could find the back of the net during the match and played to a 0-0 draw at Alumni Stadium. The Hawks improve to 1-5-1 on the season while the nationally ranked Nittany Lions fall to 5-1-1 in 2011.
The tie was the first for the Hawks since the 2009 season when they battled the Stony Brook Seawolves to a 0-0 stalemate in the semifinal round of the America East Tournament.
Hartford came out firing out of the opening kick as it blasted seven shots, two of which were on goal, over the opening 45 minutes. Freshman Atobra Ampadu got the Hawks' first look at the goal in the sixth minute after tracking down a blocked shot off the foot of teammate David Bernhardsson. His attempt was on target but Penn State keeper Andrew Wolverton was there to make the stop.
In the final minutes of the opening stanza, Ampadu threatened again, this time with junior James Stamopoulos. On a breakaway, Ampadu and Stamopoulos found themselves in front of the Nittany Lions' defense. Ampadu led his teammate with a long pass across the box and Stamopoulos rifled a low shot to the right corner, just in reach of a diving Wolverton.
Penn State combined to outshoot the Hawks by a margin of 7-1 in the extra periods. Citriniti came up huge for the Hawks in the final moments of the first overtime. In the 100th minute, Hassani Sinclair pulled the trigger from 18-yards out but the leaping Hawks' keeper reached and got his right hand on the ball before it had a chance to cross the goal line.
Hartford's lone attempt at breaking the stalemate came in the opening seconds of the final overtime but Wolverton was again in place to make the rejection on Stamopoulos' shot in the 101st minute.
With the final minutes of the match winding down, Penn State had a pair of opportunities to light up the scoreboard and steal the win. In the 108th minute, John Gallagher sent a shot that was just high of the target and with just 11 seconds remaining on the game clock, Minh Vu saw a look at the net but his attempt veered just wide to the left of the goal posts.
The visiting team led in the shots column, 18-10, and also held a commanding 9-1 advantage in corner kicks on the afternoon. Citriniti rejected five shots, a season-high, for his second shutout of the year while his counterpart Wolverton also made five saves in the match.
Hartford returns to the pitch on Wednesday, September 24 when it travels to Amherst, Mass. to take on the Massachusetts Minutemen. First kick is slated for 3:30 p.m.
