Aug. 7, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Big Ten Network has released a portion of its fall sports broadcast schedule, featuring a total of five games of Penn State's men's and women's soccer teams in 2012.
Penn State's 14-time Big Ten Champion women's soccer team will be featured on the BTN at least three times this season, including its matchup with No. 1 Stanford on August 24 at 7:30 p.m. The Nittany Lions will also be featured in a home contest against Wisconsin on Sept. 16 and and at Ohio State on Sept. 27. In addition, both Big Ten Tournament semifinal games and the championship game will be aired live on the BTN.
Coming off last year's nine-win season and an appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game, the men's soccer team will have two games aired on the BTN in 2012. The Nittany Lions make their BTN season debut on Oct. 6 at Michigan. Penn State will host Michigan State on Oct. 14 at 3:00 p.m., which will also air live on the BTN. Additionally, both Big Ten Tournament semifinal contests and the championship game will be aired live on the BTN.
The 14-time defending Big Ten champion women's team will open the 2012 regular season on Fri., August 17 when it travels to ACC-power Virginia. One week later, on Fri., August 24, the Lions will host defending National Champion Stanford at Jeffrey Field at 7:30 p.m. Penn State returns the majority of it scoring from last year's Sweet Sixteen squad as MAC Hermann Trophy Finalist Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.), two-time NSCAA All-American Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.), Emily Hurd (Sammamish, Wash.) and Taylor Schram (Canonsburg, Pa.) tallied 52 goals and 38 assists (142 points) lead the Lion offense.
Warming's squad returns 13 letterwinners and eight starters from last season's team that advanced to the Big Ten Tournament title game for the third consecutive year, broke the Penn State record for shutouts in a season, and led the conference in goals allowed and goals against average. Among the returnees are the team's top three scorers in Minh Vu (Tucson, Ariz.), the 2011 Big Ten Tournament Offensive MVP, Julian Cardona (Lincoln, Neb.), and Hasani Sinclair (Coral Gables, Fla.) and the anchor of the PSU defense, goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton (Snellville, Ga.). The Nittany Lion roster will also be bolstered by a talented group of newcomers which includes six freshmen and four transfers.
The Big Ten Network is available to more than 80 million homes through agreements with more than 300 cable, satellite and telco providers in all 50 states and Canada. Armstrong, Blue Ridge and Adams Cable, though, do not carry BTN in Pennsylvania and the Medina and Youngstown, Ohio areas. More than 35,000 Penn State alumni live in the communities served by the three cable providers in Pennsylvania and Ohio, in addition to thousands more fans and current Penn State students. Armstrong, Blue Ridge and Adams Cable customers missed more than 110 Penn State events on BTN during the 2011-12 academic year, in addition to coverage from 15 conference championships.
About BTN: A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, BTN is the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With more than 800 events, all in HD, the 24/7 network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. Events include football, men's and women's basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Championship events; studio shows; coaches' shows; and classic games. The network televises and streams more Olympic sporting events and women's sports than has ever been aired on any other network. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation's finest universities. The groundbreaking Student U initiative provides real-world experience for students interested in careers in sports television. The network is available to more than 80 million homes across the United States and Canada, and currently has agreements with more than 300 affiliates, including AT&T U-Verse, Atlantic Broadband, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Rogers Cable (Canada), Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct (Canada), Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS. For additional information, go to www.BTN.com.