Army Defeats Penn State, 2-1

Sunday, August 24

West Point, N.Y.

6:00 p.m.

Army West Point

1-1-0, 0-0-0

Penn State

1-1-0, 0-0-0

Penn St.

Army West Point

Army Defeats Penn State, 2-1

August 24, 2025 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point men's soccer recorded a massive early-season victory on Sunday night as the Black Knights took down Big Ten foe Penn State 2-1 at Malek Stadium in front of a crowd over 1,100 people.

The victory marked Army's first win over a current Power Four opponent since defeating Rutgers in 1988.

Army (1-1-0) capitalized on limited opportunities, scoring on both of its shots on goal while leaning on goalkeeper Michael Guiry and a gritty defensive effort to secure its first win of 2025. Sunday was the first start and win of Guiry's career.

The Black Knights broke through in the 40th minute when sophomore defender Miles Hadley headed home a finish off a feed from senior midfielder Sean Adu-Gyamfi. The goal gave the Black Knights a 1-0 advantage at the break despite being outshot 8-5 in the first half.

Army doubled its lead just 99 seconds into the second half as forward Jubril Bamgbala found the back of the net for the second time this season, heading in a beautiful cross from Ronald Zhai to make it 2-0. Bamgbala leads the team in goals, points and shots on goal through two games. Since the start of 2023, Bamgbala leads Army in goals scored.

Both teams found itself down to 10 men for the final 25 minutes of the match as both sides lost players to red cards. A total of 13 cards were show on Sunday night.

Penn State cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 86th minute on a Ben Nash goal from close range. The visitors piled on pressure in the closing minutes, recording 12 second-half shots and 10 corner kicks after the break. Guiry, however, stood tall with six saves, including a diving stop in the 89th minute to protect the lead.

The Black Knights finished with 10 shots – two on goal – compared to the Nittany Lions 20 – seven on goal. Penn State had 13 corners, while Army had one.

Quotable – head coach Brian Plotkin
"After the last game we thought there was a lot of good in what we did but we made some mistakes that led to goals. We really talked about making other teams beat us, not beating ourselves. Credit to the staff for doing an amazing job preparing this scout. This game looked a lot different than our first one, but we're a team that's going to win multiple ways. We're going to have the ability to play the ball down but when a team is giving us the channels, we have our guys up front. I'm just really proud of the fight in these guys. We talked about what was missing in that game against Fairfield – a bit of that true competitiveness, that relentless competition we talk about all the time. I thought the guys brought that tonight."

Up Next
Army returns to action on Thursday night as it heads to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., for its first road test against Marist. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., with the match being broadcast on ESPN+.

Follow the Black Knights
Follow Army men's soccer on X @ArmyWP_MSoccer and on Instagram @armywp_msoccer. Fans can also like Army West Point Athletics on Facebook and learn more about men's soccer and other programs at goarmywestpoint.com.