Nov. 25, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With its first quarterfinal appearance since 2002 on the line, the Penn State men's soccer team will travel to battle No. 2 seed Maryland on Sunday in a third round contest of the 2010 NCAA Championship. Game time is set for 5 p.m. at Ludwig Field in College Park.
Last week, junior forward Corey Hertzog (Reading, Pa.) totaled three goals, the second hat trick of his career, and one assist and senior midfielder Matheus Braga (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) notched two assists to lead the 15th-seeded Nittany Lions to a decisive 4-1 win over Old Dominion in a second round NCAA Championship clash. The victory was Penn State's first in the NCAA postseason since 2005, when the 11th-seeded Nittany Lions defeated Seton Hall, 1-0, in a second round game at Jeffrey Field.
The Penn State offense, which has posted 45 goals and 54 assists in 22 games and been shutout just once, is powered by one of the nation's most prolific scoring tandems in unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selections Hertzog and Braga.
In 2010, Hertzog firmly established himself as one of the NCAA's elite players, fashioning the greatest offensive season by a Nittany Lion in 55 years and among the best in Big Ten history.
Hertzog has netted an NCAA-best 20 goals, the most by a Penn State player since Jim Stamatis equaled that mark in his Hermann Trophy winning season of 1979. His goal total also ranks him fourth in the program record book and positions him in a first place tie for goals in a single season in Big Ten history. With 46 points, Hertzog ranks second on the Penn State and Big Ten season points list. He has already established himself as the all-time Penn State and Big Ten record holder for shots in a season, totaling 114 thus far in 2010
Hertzog, the 2010 TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Year, currently leads the nation in four major offensive statistical categories, points per game (2.19), total points (46), goals per game (0.95), and total goals (20).
Braga etched his name in both the Penn State and Big Ten record books in 2010, becoming the single season leader in assists, totaling an NCAA-best 17. In just three years in Happy Valley, Braga has notched 28 assists, ranking him in a fourth-place tie with Neil Piper (1991-93) on the PSU career assists list. He is currently second on the team in goals (5) and in points, amassing a career-high 27.
Junior midfielder Mackenzie Arment (Manheim, Pa.) (2g, 9a), freshman forward Jordan Tyler (Rochester, Mich.) (5g, 3a), and senior midfielder Drew Cost (West Chester, Pa.) (3g, 5a), a two-time Second Team All-Big Ten honoree, have also been major contributors to the Penn State attack in 2010.
Penn State possesses a 17-19-5 series record versus Maryland, including an 0-2 mark in NCAA postseason play. A year ago, the seventh-seeded Nittany Lions saw their season come to an end versus the defending national champion Terrapins, falling, 2-1, in a hard-fought and tightly contested second round match in University Park. Overall, the Penn State program has compiled a 25-28-1 record in NCAA Championship competition. The Lions last advanced to the third round in 2005 when they suffered a 3-1 setback to a Bob Warming-led Creighton team at Jeffrey Field.
First-year Penn State head coach Bob Warming, who is three victories shy of reaching the 400-win plateau, has been a fixture in the NCAA Championship throughout his career. During his four-year stint at Saint Louis, he guided the Billikens to four consecutive NCAA appearances, including a College Cup run in 1997. At Creighton, Warming's Bluejay teams earned NCAA Championship berths in 11 of 14 years, including the second College Cup appearance of his career in 2002.
Maryland (18-2-1), winner of 14 consecutive games, has established itself as one of the nation's powerhouse programs over the past two decades, earning berths to the NCAA Championship in 16 of the last 17 seasons. The Terrapins have advanced to the third round in nine consecutive seasons and made it to the College Cup five times since 2002. Overall, Maryland is 43-24-4 in 30 NCAA Championship appearances.
The Terrapin program is helmed by 18-year head coach Sasho Cirovski. During his tenure, Maryland has compiled a 269-110-23 record, two national championships, 16 NCAA and six College Cup appearances, four ACC Tournament titles, and 17-consecutive winning seasons.
The Maryland attack, ranked No. 1 in the nation in total goals (58) and goals per game (2.76), is headlined by a trio of First Team All-ACC performers in junior midfielder Matt Kassel and forwards Jason Herrick and Casey Townsend. Kassel leads Maryland with assists (10) and points (28), Herrick, a redshirt senior, is the Terps' top goal scorer (10), and Townsend, a junior, ranks first on the team in shots (66) and shares the team lead in game winning goals (4). Patrick Mullins (5g, 4a), Paul Torres (5g, 4a), and Billy Cortes (5g, 3a), and Doug Rodkey (1g, 5a) are also key figures in the Maryland offense.
The Terrapin defense has been equally impressive in 2010, allowing just 12 goals in 21 games, surrendering two or more just twice, while recording 14 shutouts. Anchoring the unit is two-time First Team All-ALC goalkeeper, junior Zac MacMath. Son of former Nittany Lion Gary MacMath (1970-72), he has started all 21 games, compiling a stellar 0.56 goals against average. Sophomores Taylor Kemp and Ethan White, junior Alex Lee, twin brother of Penn State defender Justin Lee (Derwood, Md.), and redshirt senior Greg Young form a formidable back line in front of MacMath.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State-Maryland match on the Internet with live stats and instant scoring updates from GameTracker or with a free live video webcast through NCAA All-Access. Find links on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
In the other half of Penn State's bracket, No. 7 seed South Carolina (13-6-2), champions of Conference USA, will host Big Ten Tournament title winners No. 10 seed Michigan (15-4-3) in a third round contest also scheduled for Sun., Nov. 28 (2 p.m.). The Gamecocks advanced by virtue of a 2-1 overtime win over Duke while the Wolverines needed extra time to oust Central Florida (2-1) and make it to the round of 16.