Sept. 24, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Penn State (2-5-2) surrendered an early deficit it could not overcome and fell to Penn (5-0-2), 3-0, on Wednesday evening at the Quakers' Rhodes Field in Philadelphia.
The Nittany Lions were outshot (10-4) for the second consecutive game after starting the season with a 145-61 advantage in shots through the first seven contests. Defensively, the Penn State line-up remains in flux, still adjusting to the loss of star defender Andres Casais (Caracas, Venezuela) to a fractured cheekbone suffered versus Saint Mary's on Sept. 19.
Penn State split its four shots between the halves with freshman defender Justin Lee (Derwood, Md.) and sophomore defender Casey Derkacz (Hamburg, N.Y.) recording one shot on goal in each period.
The game went without a shot until the 20th minute when Penn scored on its first attempt. Senior midfielder Alex Grendi netted his first of the season with Andrew Ferry earning an assist on the play.
The Quakers upped their advantage to 2-0 less than four minutes later on their second shot of the game. Ferry found net for his second goal of the season off passes from Brian Mascarenhas and Omid Shokoufandeh, who were credited with assists on the play.
Penn State had the Quakers on the run and on their heels for much of the second half, but Penn added a late goal by senior midfielder Kevin Unger to complete the victory.
Sophomore Liam Fitzwater (Schuylkill Haven, Pa.) started his seventh consecutive in goal for Penn State, recording four saves, all in the second half.
The Nittany Lions return home to Jeffrey Field for the final time in September on Sunday the 28th when they kickoff their 2008 Big Ten schedule with a 2 p.m. game versus Michigan State (3-4-0, 0-1-0 Big Ten). In 2007, Penn State drew with Michigan State twice, making its all-time record against the Spartans 15-7-2. Early in the season, Penn State tied MSU 2-2 in the teams' regular season contest in East Lansing. The Lions returned to Michigan State's home field in November for a first round match-up at the Big Ten Championship, falling in penalty kicks, 4-3, after earning a 0-0 regulation draw.