Oct. 9, 2009
Senior forward Jason Yeisley has been named a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, an honor that recognizes excellence in four areas - classroom, community, character, and competition. Fans can vote for Yeisley EVERY DAY by texting M9 to 74567 and by visiting www.seniorclassaward.com. Fan balloting, which counts for 1/3 of the final vote, continues until Nov. 13.
Place your bid today on an autographed Penn State men's soccer poster! It's part of our Fall Five-Pack of autographed posters that also includes women's soccer, field hockey, women's volleyball, and cross country!
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's soccer team (7-3-1, 2-0-0 Big Ten) will put its three game winning streak and undefeated Big Ten record on the line when it hosts No. 21 Northwestern (6-1-3, 1-0-0 Big Ten) in a showdown for conference supremacy on Sunday afternoon at Jeffrey Field. The key contest is set to begin at 2 p.m. and will follow the Nittany Lion women's soccer squad's match-up with Iowa, which is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start.
Starting this Sunday, Penn State is entering its most crucial and most difficult stretch of the season. The Lions next five opponents, two of which are ranked in the latest NSCAA poll including No. 1 Akron, are a combined 37-8-7.
The Nittany Lions have been dominant at home in 2009, posting a 5-0-1 record while outscoring its opponents by a 19-2 margin. Included in that impressive run have been three games in which the Nittany Lions have scored five goals and a Big Ten season opening shutout victory over Michigan.
Last weekend, Penn State claimed sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with a 1-0 victory over Michigan State in East Lansing in a game broadcast live on the Big Ten Network. The road conference win was the Nittany Lions first since Sept. 24, 2006, a 2-1 triumph over Northwestern in Evanston, and moved their all-time record in games shown on the BTN to 2-3.
Junior midfielder Matheus Braga (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) notched the game winner versus the Spartans, connecting on a shot off a free kick opportunity in the 11th minute. That score, coupled with his assist in the 5-0 rout of Penn earlier in the week, earned him a share of Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors. Penn State played brilliant team defense, especially in the second half when it was forced to play down a man for the game's final 38 minutes. Highlighting that performance was redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Warren Gross (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), who recorded four saves, including two highlight-reel stops in the first half, en route to his Big Ten leading sixth shutout of the year.
Gross has been nearly untouchable this season, despite being hobbled by a hip and groin injury in several games. He has allowed just five goals in 11 starts, compiling a 0.48 goals against average, ranking him No. 12 in the nation. Gross has posted three consecutive shutouts and has not allowed a goal in the last 272:43. Credit for Penn State's sound defense this season also must go to its starting back line of redshirt junior Andy Parr (Hummelstown, Pa.), junior Andres Casais (Caracas, Venezuela), and sophomores Mark Fetrow (West Chester, Pa.) and Justin Lee (Derwood, Md.).
Northwestern enters Sunday's contest winners of three straight, all by 1-0 decisions, including Wednesday night's road victory over Northern Illinois. Junior forward Matt Eliason is the definitive centerpiece the NU attack. He leads the Big Ten in goals with nine and points with 19. Only two other Wildcats, Piero Bellizzi and Jack Hillgard, have scored multiple goals, with each netting two. Oliver Kupe tops the team in assists, recording six of NU's 16 total. The NU defense is anchored by back Mark Blades and goalkeeper Misha Rosenthal. Blades, a starter of 75 career games, is a two-time Second Team All-Big Ten selection. Rosenthal has registered 40 saves in eight starts and boasts a 1.05 goals against average.
Penn State owns a dominating 21-3-1 record in the all-time series with Northwestern, despite falling twice to the Wildcats a year ago, once in the regular season (2-1) in Evanston and another in the first round of the Big Ten Championship (2-1) in double overtime. The Nittany Lions have never lost to Northwestern at Jeffrey Field, including the teams' last meeting in 2007 when NU came in ranked No. 3 in the nation and left 2-1 losers. Since their first meeting in 1991, PSU has outscored Northwestern, 26-4, at home, earning five shutouts.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State-Northwestern 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 remain at home for their next outing, as they welcome in-state opponent Lafayette (7-2-1, 2-0-0 Patriot League) to Jeffrey Field for a 7 p.m. contest on Wed., Oct. 14. Penn State is 27-2-1 all-time versus Lafayette. The teams' last meeting took place in 2007 in University Park and ended deadlocked in a 1-1 tie. Next weekend, the Lions will continue conference play when they travel to Columbus, Ohio for a 2:00 p.m. match-up with Ohio State (6-2-3, 0-1-0 Big Ten) on Sun, Oct. 18.