Oct. 31, 2011
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After a weekend off, the Penn State men's soccer team will finish out a four-game road swing along with its 2011 regular season non-conference slate on Tuesday evening when it travels east to Long Island to meet Hofstra (6-10-0). The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start at Hofstra Soccer Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y.
In its last outing, on Wednesday night, Penn State (7-7-3) played to its third 0-0 draw of the season, tying regional rival Bucknell on the road in Lewisburg. Sophomore forward Jordan Tyler (Rochester, Mich.) led the Nittany Lions with four shots, including one that looked to lead to the game winner in the second half but junior Hasani Sinclair (Coral Gables, Fla.) was called offsides after tapping in a redirect by the Bison goalkeeper.
Freshman goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton (Snellville, Ga.) recorded five saves en route to earning his Big Ten-best 10th clean sheet of the year and tying the Penn State single season record for shutouts. Wolverton also leads the Big Ten in goals against average (0.56) and save percentage (.836).
Hofstra enters Tuesday's match having lost three straight, all Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) games, including the last two in overtime. The Pride is 3-4-0 at home this season.
Hofstra, which is scoring at a 1.31 goals per game clip, is headlined by sophomore midfielder Chris Griebsch (4 goals, 8 assists) and sophomore defender Shaun Foster (5 goals, 1 assist) but four others have also netted multiple goals this season. The Pride has scored two or more goals in eight games this season and has been shutout five times.
Defensively, Hofstra has allowed 31 goals in 2011, a 1.94 goals per game average, and recorded three shutouts in 16 games. Sophomore goalkeeper Roberto Pellegrini has started all 16 games in net for the Pride, compiling a 1.86 goals against average and .730 save percentage.
Penn State has played Hofstra only once in program history, a 5-1 home win at the 2009 Penn State Classic. The Nittany Lions got two goals each from Corey Hertzog and Matheus Braga in the rout of the Pride. Penn State is 18-14-1 all-time versus CAA teams.
Fans can also follow all of the action of the Penn State-Hofstra match on the Internet with live stats and instant scoring updates. Find a link on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
With their longest road stint of 2011 in the books, the Nittany Lions return home to Happy Valley this weekend for a Big Ten contest with Wisconsin (8-7-2, 3-2-0 Big Ten) on Saturday, Nov. 5. The match-up, which is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start at Jeffrey Field, will be aired on a tape delay basis on the Big Ten Network (Sunday, Nov. 6, 6 p.m.). Penn State will be looking to avenge a 1-0 loss suffered last season in Madison, the only shutout suffered by the Lions during the 2010 regular season. Penn State owns a 12-10-2 record all-time versus the Badgers.
Senior Day festivities will also highlight Saturday, with Mackenzie Arment (Manheim, Pa.), Marco Ciarla (Potomac, Md.), Mark Fetrow (West Chester, Pa.) Justin Lee (Derwood, Md.), and Matt Smallwood (Cochranville, Pa.) being recognized for their contributions to the program in a special postgame ceremony.