Watch Live: St. John's (ESPN3)
Sep 5, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's soccer team begins a two-game road trip Friday as it travels to Piscataway, N.J. for a bout with Rutgers at 7:00 p.m. before taking on No. 23 St. John's in Queens, N.Y. Sunday at 7:00 p.m. The St. John's match will be aired live nationally on ESPN3.
The Nittany Lions opened the 2013 season with a pair of shutout victories for the second time in the last three seasons, blanking Radford and Central Connecticut by identical 1-0 scorelines.
Freshman Mark Wadid (Mississauga, Ontario) scored the game-winner against Radford, becoming the first rookie to score in a season-opener for Penn State since Chad Severs scored in a 5-1 defeat of Bucknell on August 31, 2001. Eli Dennis(Easton, Md.) was the hero Sunday night, nodding a header to the near post in the 80th minute to down Central Connecticut.
The highly touted Penn State backline performed as advertised in the first two games, frustrating opposing attackers to the tune of just 13 total shots. Center backs Martin Seiler (Stuttgart, Germany) and Akil Howard (Queens, N.Y.) made life relatively easy for junior goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton(Atlanta, Ga.), but the netminder rose to the occasion when called upon. Wolverton has a remarkable 17 shutouts in 32 career starts.
The Nittany Lions and Rutgers are reigniting a series for the first time since 1994, when the Scarlet Knights ousted PSU from the NCAA playoffs, 3-2, with a second round overtime victory. Penn State narrowly holds the all-time advantage, 8-7, in a series that dates back to 1982.
Rutgers is off to a slow start in 2013 after opening with a 1-1 draw against Duke and then falling to Elon, 2-1. The team's point leader from 2012, Kene Eze, had a part in both goals over the weekend, tallying a goal and an assist.
The trip to St. John's will be a homecoming of sorts for both Howard and Seiler, as Howard is a Queens, N.Y. native and Seiler spent a season with the Red Storm in 2011. Howard grew up just three minutes from the campus and most of his family will be in attendance.
Penn State and St. John's have met just five times in history (2-2-1), but three of those meetings came in NCAA Tournament play. In fact, the pair of sides faced off in championship play three out of four years between 1998 and 2001, with St. John's twice getting the victory.
The Red Storm opened the season with a 2-1 victory against NJIT, but fell to Virginia, 2-0 on September 2. St. John's will face No. 5 Akron Friday night, prior to Sunday's matchup.