Bentz's Penalty Shot Rocket Lifts Wilkes Men's Soccer over Susquehanna
EDWARDSVILLE – A penalty shot goal in the 58th minute off the foot of Kyle Bentz (Camp Hill, PA/Camp Hill) proved to be the difference as the Wilkes University men's soccer team defeated Susquehanna University by a 1-0 final at Schmidt Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The Colonels improved to 3-2-1 on the season with the thrilling victory.
Susquehanna got the first scoring opportunity with a header shot in the third minute that went wide of Wilkes goalkeeper Russell Rauh (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington Senior). Rauh was forced to make his first save in the eighth minute off a header.
Danny McGinley (Brodheadsville, PA/Pleasant Valley) got the first shot for the Colonels in eighth minute after a strong transition by Wilkes but the shot went left.
After another save by Rauh rolled out of bounds in the 20th minute, the River Hawks were awarded a corner kick that resulted in a shot which was again saved by Rauh.
The Colonels turned up the pressure in the 21st minute when Seth Fowler (Mechanicsville, MD/Chopticon) lined a shot high. In the 22nd minute Jacob Bausher (Hamburg, PA/Hamburg Area) nailed a shot that went high before Matthew Horwedel (Delanson, NY/Schalmont Senior) took a shot that was saved, followed in the 23rd minute by a laser off the foot of Bentz that was saved by Susquehanna goalkeeper Matt Ellingworth.
Susquehanna went back on the offensive in the 25th minute with a shot that went wide right.
In the 30th minute, the Colonels got two corners and two shots off but were kept off the board.
The score remained locked at zero as time expired sending both teams into the halftime break.
Wilkes got the first opportunity of the second half in the 48th minute when Bausher lined a shot from 20 yards out that forced Ellingworth to make a leaping save, sending it over the crossbar and giving the Colonels a corner kick. On the resulting corner, Gabriel Nieves (Yorktown Heights, NY/Lakeland Senior) was able to get a head on it, however, the attempt went wide right.
The River Hawks got a point blank opportunity in the 58th minute when a Susquehanna forward made a move on the right side of the goal, making a move outside then cutting back in for a wide-open shot off the left foot that Ruah was able to turn away.
Wilkes broke through in the 58th minute when Bausher was taken down in the box leading to a penalty shot for the Colonels. Bentz took the attempt for Wilkes, nailing the bottom of the crossbar into the net to give the Colonels a 1-0 lead.
Wilkes forced a mad dash to the goal in the 75th minute but Jeffrey Eager-Heffner (Blandon, PA/Fleetwood Area) was unable to get the time and space for a strong shot, which was blocked.
The Colonels were able to hold off a mad dash at the end of the game by the River Hawks to seal the win.
Both goalkeepers played exceptionally, with Rauh making seven saves for Wilkes while Ellingworth made four for Susquehanna.
Both teams finished with 15 shot attempts while the Colonels held a seven-to-five advantage in corner kicks.
Wilkes returns to the pitch on Saturday when it will host Keystone College for a 1:00 p.m. non-conference game at Schmidt Stadium.
