Sept. 9, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's soccer team (1-3-0) will continue its early season stretch of home games by welcoming regional rival Saint Francis (0-2-1) to Jeffrey Field on Wednesday evening for a 7 p.m. non-conference contest.
The Nittany Lions will be looking to rebound after dropping consecutive decisions to No. 18 Tulsa (2-1) and Bucknell (2-0) last weekend at the 2008 Penn State Classic. Sophomore midfielder Drew Cost (West Chester, Pa.) netted the Lions' goal versus Tulsa, scoring on a penalty kick rewarded after a hard foul in the box on sophomore forward John Gray (Lemont, Pa.). Sophomore Liam Fitzwater (Schuylkill Haven, Pa.) had a solid weekend in goal, totaling seven saves while disrupting numerous other scoring chances with aggressive play. Fitzwater and senior midfielder Ryan Badaracco (Wexford, Pa.) were honored on the Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team.
Through the season's first four games, opportunities for Penn State to score have not been scarce. The Nittany Lions are outshooting their opponents, 79-32, with Cost leading the team with 13 shots. In addition, Penn State holds a decisive 24-7 advantage in corner kicks, though they have only converted on one chance, a header goal by junior defender Bobby Bohlen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) in the opener against Central Florida.
Saint Francis is off to a slow start to the 2008 season, falling in consecutive games to Michigan State (4-0) and Western Michigan (3-2) at the MSU/Radisson Fall Classic before battling Duquesne to a 0-0 tie. Generating offensive chances has been problematic for the Red Flash, as they have netted only two goals and are averaging just eight shots per game. Youth is leading the way offensively, as freshman Kingsley McLeod and sophomore forward Patrick Fleming have accounted for both of SFU's scores. In goal, senior Brad Williams (3.50 GAA) started the first two games but sophomore Darius Motazed took the starting job over in the Red Flash's last game, earning a shutout.
Penn State boasts an undefeated record its all-time series with Saint Francis, winning all seven meetings. The Nittany Lions and Red Flash last faced off in the regular season in 1998, an 8-0 PSU victory at Jeffrey Field.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State-Saint Francis match-up on the Internet with live stats and instant scoring updates from Gametracker or with a live audio and video webcast. Find a link on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
The Nittany Lions wrap up a four game home stand on Sat., Sept. 13 when James Madison of the Colonial Athletic Association visits Jeffrey Field for a 7 p.m. match-up. Penn State possesses a 1-2-0 record in the all-time series with the Dukes with their last meeting coming in 2005, a 2-1 JMU win at the Virginia Tech Classic.
After road trips to San Francisco for games with Saint Mary's (Sept. 19) and USF (Sept. 21) and to Philadelphia for a contest with Penn (Sept. 24), Penn State next returns home to open Big Ten play versus Michigan State on Sun., Sept. 28 (2 p.m.).