Nov. 8, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - With the postseason and the Big Ten Championship looming next week, the Penn State men's soccer team (5-10-3, 2-4-0) wrapped up conference and regular season play on Saturday afternoon by dropping a 2-0 decision to No. 12 Michigan (12-4-2, 4-1-1) at the U-M Soccer Complex in Ann Arbor, Mich.
As a result of today's outcome, Penn State will serve as the No. 5 seed for the conference tournament and will face fourth-seeded Northwestern (12-3-2, 3-3-0) in an 11:30 a.m. ET first round match-up on Thurs., Nov. 13. The 2008 Big Ten Championship will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis with all tournament games to be held at the Badgers' McClimon Soccer Complex.
Penn State got off to a slow start offensively, not recording its first shot until the 17:39 mark when freshman defender Mark Fetrow (West Chester, Pa.) put a header on goal. Subsequent shots by sophomore midfielder Drew Cost (West Chester, Pa.) and junior midfielder Matheus Braga (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) accounted for Penn State's first half total.
Michigan converted on one its eight first half shots in the 28th minute to take a 1-0 lead. Mauro Fuzetti fired a shot on goal that Penn State goalkeeper Warren Gross (Greenfield Center, N.Y.) saved but could not control. Peri Marosevic was in the right place at the right time and put in a rebound for his 11th goal of the season. Matt Schmitt was credited with an assist on the play.
Penn State ramped up the attacking pressure in the second half, more than quadrupling its first half shot total. The Nittany Lions best chance came late in the game when Braga and junior forward Jacobo Vera (Pamplona, Spain) had back-to-back shots on goal but Michigan keeper Patrick Sperry was up to the task, saving both.
Michigan sealed the win and padded its stats with a second Peri Marosevic goal with just five seconds remaining in the game.
Penn State and Michigan each recorded 13 shots for the game. The Nittany Lions had a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Should the Nittany Lions get past Northwestern in the first round of the Big Ten Championship, they would advance to face No. 1 seed Michigan State (11-5-1, 5-1-1) in a semifinal contest scheduled for 12 p.m. ET on Fri., Nov. 14. The winners of the Indiana-Ohio State and Michigan-Wisconsin games will face each other at 2:30 p.m. ET in the other semifinal match-up. The title game is set for 1 p.m. ET on Sun., Nov. 16.
The semifinals and finals will air live on the Big Ten Network. Penn State possesses a 22-11-4 record in Big Ten Championship play, one of just two conference teams to possess a winning mark in the postseason tournament.