SCRANTON, PA. – The Ursinus College men's soccer team converted on three penalty kicks and the defense held off Scranton for a 3-2 road victory on Tuesday evening.


With the win, Ursinus improved to 3-7-2 on the season, meanwhile the Royals of the Landmark conference fall to 7-5-1 overall.


"I am happy and proud of the boys, they deserved the win tonight," Head Coach Daniel Clitnovici said. "We had a great mindset going into the game about being ready for the challenge and it showed from start to finish. We played two good halves with the first half where we were the more offensive team and dictated much of the tempo. In the second half, we were very organized, and we defended well. We were unable to generate many shots but were able to deal with some of their pressure and come out on top."


Scranton earned the first three opportunities of the evening after a corner kick and two shots, but each time the Bears defense turned them away. With under ten minutes remaining in the half, after an interception in the midfield from sophomore Patrick Tormey. A pass was sent to first-year Colin Deal just outside the box and after a move against a Royal defender, Deal was taken down and awarded a penalty kick. Deal stepped up and drilled a low shot towards the right post giving Ursinus a 1-0 lead. Scranton quickly responded just a minute later, after capitalizing on a corner kick opportunity to tie the game at one a piece. Scranton's Adam Havens sent a quick cross into the box finding Kieran Francis for a one touch into the top right corner of the net. Havens earned another opportunity a minute later, but his shot was denied by Bears' junior goalkeeper Kirk Ransome to keep the score tied 1-1 heading into halftime.
 

Ursinus quickly responded in the opening minutes of the second half as a through ball was sent past the Royals defense finding Tommy Mollis. The junior midfielder split two defenders and was tackled inside the box by the Royals goalkeeper for the Bears second penalty kick. Mollis delivered for the Bears with a deceptive move, faking out the goalkeeper with a low soft shot regaining the lead for a 2-1 advantage. Ransome and the defense stepped up in the 59^th minute, saving three consecutive Royal's shots to maintain the Bears lead.

 
In the 74^th minute, senior Aidan O'Malley sent a perfect lob pass from the midfield to Marco Grenda inside the box. Once again, Grenda was fouled inside the box resulting in the Bears third penalty kick of the contest. O'Malley stepped up and drilled a line drive shot towards the left top corner of the net for his second goal of the season. O'Malley continued the offensive pressure for the Bears in the 80^th minute, firing a shot wide right of the net. Scranton answered with a goal in the 80^th minute, after a cross from the far corner was deflected by Ransome in net. The rebound found Ciaran Corr with space, and he cut the Royals deficit to one with a goal. The Bears continued the stellar defense over the final ten minutes, while only allowing one shot and finished with a 3-2 victory.

 
The Royals held a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal, while earning a 7-1 edge in corner kick opportunities. Ransome earned the win in net for the Bears collecting five saves, while Scranton's Aidan Hartey was dealt the loss.


The Bears will return to action on Saturday, February 15^th as they travel to Johns Hopkins for a Centennial Conference matchup at 7pm.