ERIE, Pa. – The Grove City men's soccer team score three second half goals to defeat Penn State Behrend 3-2 on Tuesday night.
The Lions (4-3) drop their first home game of the season to the Wolverines (4-1-2), allowing two unanswered goals late in the second half. Jonathan Burton tallied all three goals for Grove City while goalie Malcolm Blake added five saves in the win.
The game got off to a quick start for Behrend when freshman Christian Eckberg (Norwin, PA/Norwin) tapped in a goal off of a Matt Dziadosz (Leechburg, PA/Kiski Area) shot that rang off the cross bar, giving the Lions an early 1-0 lead.
It wasn't until eight minutes into the second half when the Lions committed a foul in the box, causing Behrend to play down a man for the remainder of the game. Burton stepped up for the Wolverines, burying the penalty kick to give him his first goal of the game.
The teams continued to battle back and forth looking for the perfect chance. At the 83:35 minute mark, Richard Blanchard (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) broke up a pass in the center of the field, passed it to Dziadosz running down the sideline where he chipped it to Aaron Harris (Washington, PA/McGuffey) for the header goal.
Less than four minutes, Grove City answered when Blake Baer slotted Burton into the box to even the score at 2-all.
Just when the fans thought the game was headed to overtime, Franklin Tropiano beat a defender on the end line and crossed it over to Burton with 40 seconds left in the game, making him the hat-trick hero.
The Lions will look to get back on track this Thursday against Geneva.