Nov. 10, 2011
2011 Big Ten Tournament bracket **UPDATED** | Big Ten Tournament Central
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The seventh-seeded Penn State men's soccer team will continue pursuit of the program's fourth conference crown on Friday at 3:30 p.m. when it takes on No. 3 seed Wisconsin (10-7-2) in the semifinals of the 2011 Big Ten Men's Soccer Tournament. The game, which will be broadcast live on the BTN, will be played at the host University of Michigan's U-M Soccer Complex in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Penn State opened play at the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday with an impressive 2-0 first round victory over No. 2 seed Ohio State. Senior defender Matt Smallwood (Cochranville, Pa.) netted his first goal of the season while junior forward Julian Cardona (Lincoln, Neb.) totaled three points, scoring a goal on a penalty kick and earning an assist on Smallwood's tally. Freshman goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton (Snellville, Ga.) broke the Penn State single season record for shutouts, recording his 11th.
With the win, Penn State improved its all-time Big Ten Tournament record to 27-14-4, including a sterling 17-3-1 mark in first round matches. The Nittany Lions are 8-6-2 in semifinal contests.
Penn State is unbeaten versus Wisconsin in Big Ten Tournament play, posting a 4-0 record. The Nittany Lions defeated the Badgers in 1992 (2-1), 1993 (1-0), 1997 (2-0), and 2002 (1-0). In 1993 and 2002, Penn State downed Wisconsin en route to Big Ten titles.
Friday's semifinal game will be a rematch of a regular season finale that took place just six days prior on November 5 in Happy Valley. Penn State dropped that match in heartbreaking fashion, falling 1-0 with just 21 seconds remaining in the second overtime on a penalty kick awarded to Wisconsin on an official's call of a hand ball in the box.
Should Penn State get past Wisconsin, it will face the winner of the semifinal match-up between top seeded Northwestern and No. 4 seed Indiana for the Big Ten Tournament title on Sunday at 12 p.m. In the 20-year history of the annual conference postseason event, no No. 7 seed has ever vied for a Big Ten Tournament championship.
Fans can also follow all of the Penn State soccer action at the 2011 Big Ten Tournament on the Internet with live stats and instant scoring updates from GameTracker.