NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. - Behind two goals and two assists from sophomore forward Brady Braun (Harrison City, Pa./Penn Trafford), the No. 3 seed Penn State New Kensington men's soccer team cruised to victory against No. 6 seed Penn State Scranton. The 7-1 win propelled the Lions, now 9-5 overall, into the PSUAC Tournament seminfinals.
Freshman striker Carlos Colindres (Schuylkill, Pa./Blue Mountain) started the ball rolling for New Kensington when he finished a pass from Braun. Braun found the back of the net just four minutes later to put the Lions up 2-0. It was Braun again in minute 35, this time from fellow sophomore Nolan Johngarlo (Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area). Johngarlo followed that up with a goal of his own in the 41st minute, giving New Kensing a comfortable 4-0 lead. Scranton managed to sneak one past the Lions defense with minutes left in the half to send teams to their benches with the score 4-1.
The New Kensington offense remained focus as Colindres scored again off a helper from Braun in the 64th minute. Junior Mitchell Kuczynski (Natrona Heights, Pa./St. Joseph) drilled a free kick into the lower right corner of the goal at the 71 minute mark, before senior defender Nick Nicassio (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Salem) put in the final exclamation point on the victory with just 2.1 seconds remaining. His goal was assisted by fellow senior Nate Andrews (Pittsburgh, Pa./Serra Catholic).
Senior goalkeeper Joshua Zakrzewski (Finleyville, Pa./Ringgold) made eight saves in another great performance in net for New Kensington.
New Kensington will now travel to the No. 2 seed Penn State Beaver on Saturday for the semifinals. Game time is to be announced.
2019 PSUAC Men's Soccer Tournament
Quarterfinals - Wednesday, October 23, 2019
#3 PSU New Kensington 7, # PSU Scranton 1
#PSU Lehigh Valley 2, #5 PSU Mont Alto 1
Semifinals - Saturday, October 26, 2019
#3 PSU New Kensington at #2 PSU Beaver, TBD
#4 PSU Lehigh Valley at #1 PSU Brandywine, 5:30 p.m.
Championship - Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Semifinal Winners at University Park, Pa.
