Sept. 18, 2011
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The No. 15 Penn State men's soccer team extended its streak of holding opponents scoreless to over 388 minutes, a span of four-plus games, but the Nittany Lions could not find the back of the net themselves and drew with Hartford (1-5-1), 0-0, on Sunday afternoon at the Hawks' Alumni Stadium.
The tie was just the second for Penn State (5-1-1) under second-year head coach Bob Warming and the first since the Lions knotted Northwestern 1-1 on October 17, 2010 in Evanston. It was also just the second time Penn State has been held without a goal in the last two years.
"I actually thought we played some of our best soccer of the year today," said Warming. "We had some fantastic combinations and some really good performances. I couldn't be happier with the way some of the guys played. We just were unlucky. Sometimes soccer is like that."
Penn State outshot Hartford for the game, 18-10. Juniors Minh Vu (Tucson, Ariz.) and Hasani Sinclair (Coral Gables, Fla.) led PSU with four shots, including two each that made it on goal. The Nittany Lions earned nine corner kicks as compared to just one for the Hawks.
Freshman goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton (Snellville, Ga.) registered five saves en route to his sixth shutout through the season's first seven games. The Penn State record for shutouts in a season is 10, held by Angelo Nickas (1980), Whit Gibson (1998), and Conrad Taylor (2005). With today's clean sheet, Wolverton's goals against average has dipped to a Big Ten-leading 0.42.
Penn State had the run of play in the first half despite being slightly outshot in the box score. Vu and Sinclair got good looks on net but could not get their shots past UH goalkeeper Luke Citriniti. The Nittany Lion defense held firm as well and has yet to allow a first half goal this season.
In the second half, Penn State became more dangerous on the attack, outshooting Hartford, 7-2. Junior midfielder John Gallagher (Pine Bush, N.Y.) nearly ended the game in the final minute, but his blast was saved with a miraculous stop from Citriniti.
Penn State forced the issue in the overtimes, getting off seven shots while limiting Hartford to just one. Vu had a final shot at ending the game with 11 seconds left, but his offering went wide of net.
Penn State will open Big Ten play on the road on Friday, traveling to Bloomington for a key conference match with No. 9 Indiana (4-0-2). Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. The Nittany Lions have taken five of the last nine meetings between the teams but haven't won at Bill Armstrong Stadium since 2005. A year ago, Penn State faced the Hoosiers twice in Happy Valley, falling 3-2 in the regular season before avenging that loss with a 2-1 win in the Big Ten Tournament. The Lions are 11-27-3 all-time versus Indiana.