Sept. 21, 2007
Michigan State Game Notes
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's soccer team (2-4-0) will begin its 2007 Big Ten season schedule when it travels to East Lansing, Mich. to face Michigan State (5-0-1) on Sun., Sept. 23 in a 1 p.m. match-up at the home of the Spartans, Old College Field. Dating back to 2005, the Nittany Lions have won 10 of their last 14 conference contests.
Penn State split a pair of games on their west coast road trip last weekend, blanking Cal State Fullerton, 2-0, before falling to No. 17 UCLA, 4-1. Sophomore midfielder Vincent Salvatico (Chester Springs, Pa.) netted his first career goal and sophomore forward Jacobo Vera (Pamplona, Spain) added his first score of the season to highlight the Penn State attack versus Cal State Fullerton. Senior goalkeeper Conrad Taylor (Colorado Springs, Colo.) anchored the defense, recording his 22nd career shutout.
Versus UCLA, sophomore midfielder Frank Costigliola (Dix Hills, N.Y.) scored his second goal of the season while junior forward Jason Yeisley (Allentown, Pa.) collected his second assist of the weekend and team-high sixth point of the season.
Led by 31-year head coach Joe Baum, Michigan State is off to one of its best starts in program history, collecting early season victories over Oregon State, Western Kentucky, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Florida International and earning a tie with SEC foe Kentucky. Junior forward Doug DeMartin, who tops the team with four goals, and senior co-captain Kenzo Webster, who was MSU's leading scorer in 2006, headline the Spartans' attack. Senior Chris Austin has played every minute in goal this season, recording 26 saves and accruing a 0.46 goals against average. The Spartans are receiving votes in the latest NSCAA/adidas national poll and are ranked eighth in the Great Lakes region.
Penn State possesses a 15-7-0 record versus Michigan State in the series history. The Lions have taken the last five meetings from the Spartans, outscoring them 9-2 during that span. A year ago, goals by Stephen Reihner (Washington, Pa.), Simon Omekanda, and Barkley Miller (New Freedom, Pa.) lifted Penn State to a 3-1 home win.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State-Michigan State conference battle with live stats and instant scoring updates on Gametracker. Click on the gametrack PSU link on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
The Nittany Lions return to Happy Valley for a pair of home contests at Jeffrey Field next week. On Wed., Sept. 26, Penn State will take on Ivy League foe Pennsylvania in a game set for 7 p.m. The meeting will be the teams' first in 10 years, a 1-0 PSU home win. Continuing their home stand on Sat., Sept. 29, the Nittany Lions will make their Big Ten Network debut when they host No. 6 Northwestern in a 7 p.m. match-up. Penn State has dominated its series with the Wildcats, compiling a 20-1-1 all-time record, including two wins last season.