Nov. 9, 2010
Penn State Game Notes | Tournament Bracket | Big Ten Tournament Central
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The fourth-seeded Penn State men's soccer team will begin pursuit of the program's fourth conference crown on Thurs., Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. when it faces No. 5 seed Northwestern (8-7-2) in an opening round match-up of the 2010 Big Ten Tournament. Penn State will serve as hosts of the annual conference event, with all games to be played at the home of the Nittany Lions, Jeffrey Field.
All session tickets for the Big Ten Tournament, which are for sale only in advance, are $18 for adults and $12 for students and groups. Single session tickets, which will be exclusively sold on game days, are $8 for adults and $5 for students and groups.
The Nittany Lions' contest with the Wildcats will be preceded by games featuring No. 3 seed Michigan (11-4-3) versus No. 6 seed Michigan State (11-6-1) (12 p.m.) and No. 2 seed Ohio State (10-5-2) versus No. 7 seed Wisconsin (4-12-2) (2:30 p.m).
Should Penn State (11-6-1) get past Northwestern in the first round, it would advance to take on Big Ten regular season champion and No. 1 seed Indiana (9-6-2) in a semifinal showdown scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 12. The advancing team from the Michigan-Michigan State match will meet the winner of the Ohio State/Michigan-Wisconsin contest at 1 p.m. in the other semifinal. The title game is set for 12 p.m. on Sun., Nov. 14.
Penn State ended the 2010 regular season on a down note last weekend, falling to Wisconsin, 1-0, in Madison, its fifth straight road loss to the Badgers. The setback snapped a three-game winning streak and marked the first game in which PSU has failed to score a goal this season. The Nittany Lions outshot their opponents for the 16th time in 17 games and had a 6-5 advantage in shots on goal but could not find net. Junior forward Corey Hertzog (Reading, Pa.), who broke the Penn State record for season shots in the contest, suffered from a bout of bad luck, missing on a penalty kick attempt in the first half and hitting the post with a shot in the second half.
Positioned at No. 13 in the latest version of the all-important RRI rankings, Penn State has fielded one of the Big Ten's most potent attacks in 2010. The Nittany Lions are ranked No. 1 in the conference in points (111), assists (41), and assists per game (2.28) and third in goals (35) and goals per game (1.94). In his first year in Happy Valley, head coach Bob Warming's offensive arsenal has featured one of the nation's most prolific scoring tandems in Corey Hertzog and senior midfielder Matheus Braga (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Hertzog leads the Nittany Lions in goals (14) and points (32) and is tied for tops in the Big Ten with five game winners. Braga ranks first in the conference with 12 assists and second on the team in goals (5) and points (22). Junior midfielder Mackenzie Arment (Manheim, Pa.) also has reached double digits in points (12), totaling two goals and eight assists. Senior midfielder Drew Cost (West Chester, Pa.) (2g, 5a), freshman forward Jordan Tyler (Rochester, Mich.) (3g, 2a), and junior midfielder Justin Lee (Derwood, Md.) (3a) have also played major roles in Penn State's offensive success this year.
Matheus Braga ranks first in the Big Ten with 12 assists |
Led by a back line consisting of seniors Andres Casais (Caracas, Venezuela) and Andy Parr (Hummelstown, Pa.), junior Matt Smallwood (Cochranville, Pa.), and sophomore Brian Forgue (Glenmoore, Pa.) and anchored by goalkeepers Brendan Birmingham (West Chester, Pa.) and Warren Gross (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), Penn State ranks second in the Big Ten in goals (tie, 22) and goals against average (1.18) and third in shutouts (6). Birmingham owns a team-best 1.18 goals against average while Gross has recorded four of PSU's six shutouts. The Nittany Lion defense finished the season strong, allowing just three goals in the final four games.
Northwestern enters Thursday's contest coming off back-to-back conference losses, including a 4-2 setback to Michigan in Evanston in its regular season finale on Nov. 6. The previous weekend, the Wildcats dropped a 3-2 decision to Indiana in Bloomington. Prior to its two-game losing streak, NU posted a 5-1-1 record in the month of October, highlighted by a 2-1 home win over Ohio State.
Averaging 1.71 goals per game, the Northwestern offense is headlined by the forward combination of junior Oliver Kupe and senior Matt Eliason. Kupe leads the Wildcats and ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 10 goals, four of which were game winners. Eliason, the conference scoring champion in 2009 with 29 points, tops NU with six assists this season and is second in points with 12, behind only Kupe's 21. Seniors Jack Hillgard (3 g, 1a) and Piero Bellizzi (5a) and freshmen Reed Losee (2 g, 3a) and Lepe Seetane (2g, 1a) have also been key contributors on the attack.
The Wildcat defense has struggled of late, allowing a combined 10 goals in the last three games. Senior Cody Stanley has been a cornerstone of the Northwestern defense, serving as the only NU player to start all 17 contests along the back line this season. Junior goalkeeper Drew Kotler has started 13 games, compiling a 0.84 goals against average and a .796 save percentage to go along with four shutouts.
Penn State possesses a dominating 21-3-3 record in its all-time series with Northwestern. The Nittany Lions battled the Wildcats to a 1-1 tie in their 2010 regular season match-up on Oct. 17 in Evanston, Ill. The entirety of the game's scoring came within the same minute, as Penn State got a goal from Corey Hertzog at the 39-minute mark of the first half but surrendered the equalizer just 41 seconds later. The Lions are 9-0-1 versus Northwestern at Jeffrey Field since beginning conference play in 1991, outscoring the Wildcats, 27-5, but the teams have never met in University Park in the Big Ten Tournament.
Overall, Penn State owns a Big Ten Tournament mark of 24-13-4, standing as one of just two conference teams to own a winning record in the postseason event. The Nittany Lions are undefeated versus Wisconsin (4-0) and Michigan (3-0), have lost just once to Michigan State (6-1-1), are 4-2 versus Ohio State, and own a 5-2 mark against Northwestern. Their only losing record is against Indiana (2-8-3).
Penn State has previously hosted the Big Ten Tournament on two occasions and both times a bit of drama has taken center stage. In 1996, the Lions knocked off Ohio State (3-0) before Indiana ended their run on penalty kicks, 3-2, after the teams played to a 2-2 tie. In 2002, amid a tournament-long deluge of rain that turned Jeffrey Field into a veritable swamp, Penn State captured the second of its three Big Ten titles, downing Wisconsin (1-0), Indiana (1-1, advanced 4-3 on PKs), and Michigan (2-1).
Penn State is 15-3-1 all-time in first round Big Ten Tournament games. Its only three opening round losses came in 1995 (Indiana), 2004 (Northwestern), and 2008 (Northwestern). In 2009, the No. 2-seeded Nittany Lions defeated Michigan in overtime, 1-0, in the first round and then went on to knock off Michigan State, 3-0, in the semifinals before falling to Ohio State, 1-0, in the Big Ten championship game.
The Big Ten Network will exclusively broadcast the Big Ten Men's Soccer Tournament, providing live television coverage of the semifinals and the finals. Dean Linke will provide play-by-play coverage while Chris Doran will offer color analysis.
Fans can also follow all of the Penn State soccer action at the 2010 Big Ten Tournament on the Internet with live stats and instant scoring updates from GameTracker. Find links on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.