Brandywine Rallies To Force Season-Opening Draw

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Christian Zavala (Kennett Square, Pa./Kennett) scored during the 79^th minute to knot the score as the Penn State Brandywine men's soccer team earned a 2-2 draw at former conference mate Penn State Lehigh Valley to begin the 2024 season on Saturday afternoon.

Trailing 2-1 late in the match, Zavala's 12^th career goal helped the Lions remain undefeated against PSUAC competition since 2015. Brandywine is 84-0-4 in its last 88 matches versus PSUAC opponents.

Brandywine struck for the match's opening marker just 2:37 into the game when Robbie Warren (Waldorf, Md./Westlake) scored off a feed from Francis Sarpong (Germantown, Md./Northwest).

The hosts rallied to tie the count at 1-1 on a goal from Jerrod Younes. Just over two minutes later, Younes struck again, giving Lehigh Valley a 2-1 edge.

Brandywine put 11 shots on target, including three each from Zavala and Kyle Reuter (York, Pa./Dallastown Area), and outshot Lehigh Valley 11-8.

Elijah DeBooth (West Lawn, Pa./Wilson) played the final 45 minutes in goal and stopped both shots he faced. Will Manarpaac (Boerne, Texas/Samuel V. Champion) made four saves during the opening half. Manarpaac yielded the first two goals of his 19-match career after beginning his time at Brandywine with a scoreless streak of nearly 1,100 minutes during the last two seasons.

Brandywine (0-0-1) will play its first home match Tuesday at 4:00 PM against Penn State York.