Oct. 29, 2017
By Brian McLaughlin, GOpsusports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - Penn State extended its season long winning streak to three to cap off the regular season with a 2-1 win on Sunday against Northwestern.
On a wet a sloppy day at Jeffrey Field, both teams struggled to control the ball in a hard-fought game on senior day for the Nittany Lions.
"I'm just really happy and proud of the whole team for doing such great work for the seniors today," head coach Bob Warming said.
Seniors honored postgame were Aymar Sigue, Dani Marks, Cameron Steele and Sam Bollinger, all participating in their final home game at Jeffrey Field.
Sigue was the hero on the day tapping in the go-ahead goal late in the second half for his second goal of the season. Marks also had a strong day as the stalwart on defense played his typical physical defense.
Penn State got on the board first when a corner kick went to the top of the 18 yard-box to Aaron Malloy. After taking a touch to settle the ball, Malloy sent a rocket to the top corner of the net, giving no chance to Northwestern goalie Robbie White for his first goal of the season.
Malloy dominated the middle of the field for the Nittany Lions, playing with great aggression and leading the team with five shots on the day.
"It was set up for Aaron because their backfield line and their midfield line were dropping very deep so it was going to be a lot of space between them and their forwards," Warming said. "He (Malloy) took advantage of his space really well."
The equalizer came with 10 minutes remaining in the half for Northwestern. On the cross from Tommy Katsiyiannis, Sean Lynch cut across the face of the goal and was able to flick a header just past Penn State's goalie Josh Levine.
Penn State was very aggressive, especially Malloy and Gordon Beckford, taking shots from outside the 18-yard box for the rest of the half, but were unable to pull ahead and went into the locker room tied 1-1.
With 23 minutes remaining in the second half Sigue put Penn State ahead for good. Northwestern goalie Robbie White was unable to handle a shot from the outside bouncing off his chest. The rebound fell right to the feet to Sigue who was able to put away the easy go-ahead goal from six yards out.
"We were just trying to build off a couple great performances that we've had this year," Sigue said "It's a great honor scoring on senior night."
Tom Katsiyiannis had the final opportunity for Northwestern sending a shot just wide of the net from the corner of the box with under a minute to play.
Penn State outshot Northwestern on the day 18-12 holding off the late Wildcat attack to pick up the win.
While the regular season may be over, Sigue thinks this team and his Penn State career is far from done. "We still have it all to play for. We can still win the Big Ten Tournament, and make it to the NCAA (Tournament)," Sigue said. "We have the opportunity to end someone else's season."
With the win Penn State improves to 5-9-2 overall and 2-6 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions finished the regular season seventh in the Big Ten. They are awaiting to see their opponent in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament which will take place next Sunday.