Sept. 29, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's soccer team (5-3-1, 1-0-0 Big Ten) will complete a three game home stand on Wednesday evening when it hosts Penn (3-2-2, 0-0-0 Ivy League) at Jeffrey Field in a 7 p.m. contest. The Nittany Lions are 1-0-1 during their current home stretch and are 4-0-1 overall this season at Jeffrey Field, outscoring opponents by a 14-2 margin.
Penn State earned its biggest win of the season on Sunday, knocking off No. 22 Michigan, 2-0, in its Big Ten opener. The victory was fueled by second half goals from sophomore forward Corey Hertzog (Reading, Pa.) and senior forward Jason Yeisley (Allentown, Pa.) and a stellar team defensive performance. For Hertzog, his goal in the 53rd minute was his team high fifth of the season and coupled with his score earlier in the week versus Lehigh, earned him Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in his career. Yeisley's goal was his fourth of the year. He also secured his team best fourth assist of the season on Hertzog's game winner.
Despite being hampered by a nagging hip injury, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Warren Gross (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) went the distance, recording three saves, including two spectacular stops in the first half, to secure his Big Ten best fourth shutout of the season. The starting back line of Andy Parr (Hummelstown, Pa.), Andres Casais (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Mark Fetrow (West Chester, Pa.), and Justin Lee (Derwood, Md.) played superbly, holding the Wolverines, who entered the game with 23 goals in eight games, scoreless while limiting them to just four shots on goal.
Penn had a three game winning streak snapped last Wednesday by Temple in heartbreaking fashion, falling, 2-1, in the final minute of double overtime. The Quaker attack is headlined by the trio of Alex Takakuwa (4 goals), Christian Barreiro (3 goals, 2 assists), and Tobi Olopade (3 goals, 2 assists). Barreiro leads the team in shots, shots on goals, and has two of Penn's three game winning goals. On defense, goalkeeper Ben Berg, who has started all seven games and logged every available minute of playing time, owns a 1.18 goals against average and a .690 save percentage.
Penn State holds a 19-6-3 series record versus the Quakers. In the teams' last meeting in University Park, in 2007, the Lions came away 3-2 victors on the strength of two goals from Jason Yeisley.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State-Penn match-up on the Internet with live stats and instant scoring updates from Gametracker or with a live audio and video webcast on Penn State All Access. Find links on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
Penn State men's soccer supporters can also keep up-to-date on the team throughout the season with exclusive notes, information, and photos by way of Twitter. Go to twitter.com and search psusportsjr to become a follower.
The Nittany Lions will make their 2009 debut on the Big Ten Network this weekend when they clash with Michigan State (4-2-1, 0-1-0) on Sun., Oct. 4 at the Spartans' DeMartin Soccer Complex in East Lansing, Mich. Game time is set for 12 p.m. Penn State is 15-8-2 all-time against Michigan State, including last season's 4-3 loss at Jeffrey Field. The last two meetings between the teams in East Lansing have gone to overtime, with PSU earning a 1-0-1 mark. In its four appearances on the BTN over the last two seasons, Penn State has posted a 1-3 record.