No. 16 Nittany Lions prevail in double overtime versus Berkeley College of NJ

Hazleton, Pa. - Sophomore Ryan Johnson's (Drexel Hill, Pa.) header took the Nittany Lions (9-3, 6-2 PSUAC) to overtime against Berkeley College of New Jersey (2-9) and freshman Tyler Wyllie (Benton, Pa.) scored his third game winning goal of the season to boost the Lions over the Knight's in double overtime.

Senior Ryan Lieb (Yardley, Pa.) got Hazleton on the board first when he took a pass in the open field from sophomore Joe Torres and tucked it in the upper left corner of the goal. Hazleton controlled the ball early in the action, but Berkeley began to press the Lions late in the half. With 35 seconds remaining Berkeley made an offensive run, earning a penalty kick on a Hazleton foul in the box. Berkeley's Joao Perreiras netted the penalty kick to square the match at halftime 1-1.

Berkeley resumed their pressure on the Lions defense, until Hazleton gave way in the 72nd minute when the Lions committed their second foul resulting in a penalty kick. Once again Perreiras fired a rocket passed the Hazleton keeper for an easy score and a 2-1 advantage. Hazleton would not be kept down for long as sophomore Steven Principe fired a corner kick to the front of net forcing the Berkeley netminder to play the ball. The keeper punched the ball away but Johnson was able to line up the ball in the air and head it left side to square the match at 2-2, earning his squad a trip to overtime.

After blanks for both teams in overtime period number one, Hazleton found itself on the attack in the second period of extra play. With all players moving forward, Steve Principe found a streaking Tyler Wyllie in a crowd at the net. Wyllie flicked the ball to the top right corner of the net, ending the game in thrilling fashion with a 3-2 victory for Hazleton.

Despite being outshot by the Knight's by a 34-11 margin, Hazleton managed to score three goals on just five shots on target. Sophomore keeper Jimmy Fisher (Glen Allen, Va.) stood tall against a barrage of attacks from the Berkeley offense. Fisher saved 13 shots on goal while allowing two goals on penalty kicks.

Next up: The Nittany Lions get three days off following a pair of games this weekend. Hazleton returns to action on Thursday, October 15 for their final regular season Penn State University Athletic Conference match.The Lions will kickoff at 6:00 p.m. against local rival Penn State Schuylkill.