(CHAMBERSBURG, Pa.) – Jace Williams (Jr., Chesapeake, Va. / Hickory) scored a pair of late, second half goals to lift Wilson over Penn State Altoona in non-conference action on Wednesday afternoon. The win gives the Phoenix their second of the season while the defense played another excellent 90 minutes for its fourth clean sheet in the last five outings.
The Basics
Score: Wilson 2, Penn State Altoona 0
Venue: Kris's Meadow
Records: Wilson 2-4-2, Penn State Altoona 0-6-0
How It Happened
- The Phoenix set the pace of play early as they were able to get off four shots in the first 15 minutes. Lenin Cinco (Jr., Chantilly, Va. / Westfield) was responsible for a pair of them, but both takes were wide left. Jackson Bennett (Jr., Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown) had the first shot on goal which capped the aforementioned stretch and added another shot in the 22nd minute. Altoona's offense started clicking late in the frame and closed the final 15 with five shots. Only one was on target, however, and Dylan Ennis (FY, Gainesville, Va. / Battlefield) was able to provide the save to allow the game to be 0-0 at the half.
- The second half saw a similar start with Landon Howe (Jr., Martinsburg, W.Va. / St. Maria Goretti), Andrew Bailey (Jr., Mount Airy, Md. / Linganore), and Michael Light (Sr., Mount Airy, Md. / Urbana) all getting shots in the first 10 minutes. Brian Mulholland (Sr., Oracle, Ariz. / Canyon del Oro) and Howe got the Phoenix even closer with attempts in the 61st and 62nd minutes that needed saved.
- Wilson eventually hit paydirt following a corner kick that resulted in a handball being called in the box. Williams took the honors and hammered it home for his third goal of the season in the 69th minute.
- Altoona attempted to equalize and had five shots with three corner kicks, but Ennis did well on the set pieces and made one save on the only shot on goal in the sequence to keep the Nittany Lions off the board. After the last of those shots, Wilson was able to counter and Omar Cortez (So., Columbia, Tenn. / Spring Hill) was able to connect with Williams on a pass up the middle. Williams was able to draw the Altoona goalie right and slip it to the left to ice the game in the 88th.
Inside The Numbers
- Wilson doubled up Altoona in overall shots 22-11. Shots on goal also favored the Phoenix by a 9-2 count.
- The Phoenix did well in setting up set pieces with 10 corner kicks in the game compared to six for the Nittany Lions. Five came in each half with two early corners nearly resulting in goals.
- Wilson was only offsides three times, but two of them proved costly as they cancelled out would-be goals.
- The 22 shots are the second-most for a game this season, second only to 34 taken at Penn State Mont Alto 10 days ago.
- With the win, Wilson leads the all-time series with Altoona 3-2.
Up Next
Wilson heads down I-81 to take on Eastern Mennonite in Harrisonburg, Virginia, at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
