Aug. 27, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's soccer team will wrap up its 2010 preseason schedule on Saturday evening when it faces No. 20 Louisville at the ShindigZ National Soccer Festival in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Nittany Lions and Cardinals will square off at 6 p.m. at the Hefner Sports Complex as part of the Soccerpalooza event that will feature all seven Big Ten teams.
As the regular season draws near, Penn State is garnering its share of recognition in national preseason polls. The Nittany Lions are ranked No. 16 by College Soccer News and No. 17 by Soccer America and are receiving votes in the initial NSCAA poll. In the Big Ten preseason coaches' poll released earlier this week, Penn State was selected to tie for third place in the conference with Northwestern. Senior midfielders Matheus Braga (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Drew Cost (West Chester, Pa.) and junior forward Corey Hertzog (Reading, Pa.) were named "Players to Watch."
First-year head coach Bob Warming's Nittany Lions premiered last weekend with a victory, downing Hartwick, 3-1, in an exhibition contest at Jeffrey Field. Freshman Jordan Tyler (Rochester, Mich.), sophomore Rafael Faria (Miami, Fla.), and Braga accounted for Penn State's goals while Hertzog and junior midfielder Mackenzie Arment (Manheim, Pa.) tallied assists. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Warren Gross (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) played all 90 minutes, totaling six saves, including a key stop of a penalty kick in the second half.
Louisville, ranked No. 20 in the NSCAA preseason poll, enters 2010 among the favorites to capture the BIG EAST crown after posting a 13-3-4 record a year ago. The Cardinals, picked to place second in the conference's Red Division, have posted a 1-0-1 record to this point in the preseason, defeating Lipscomb, 2-0, before drawing with Saint Louis, 0-0. Fronting the UL offense is preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year Colin Rolfe. The junior All-American led the team with 22 points in 2009, notching 10 goals and two assists. The Cardinals defense is anchored by redshirt junior goalkeeper Andre Boudreaux, who started all 20 games a year ago, posting a school record 0.67 goals against average.
The Nittany Lions will begin regular season play next weekend when they meet Buffalo on Fri., Sept. 3 (5 p.m.) at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus as part of host Ohio State's Wolstein Classic. Penn State will conclude competition at the Buckeyes' annual tournament on Sun., Sept. 5 when it battles the College of Charleston (12 p.m.) for the first time in program history.
The following weekend, the Nittany Lions will open their 2010 home schedule when they face Bucknell (Fri., Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m.) and Binghamton (Sun., Sept. 12, 2:30 p.m.) as host of the Penn State Classic.