Oct. 14, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State men's soccer redshirt-senior defender Martin Seiler (Stuttgart, Germany) was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday afternoon. Seiler was vital to Penn State's 3-1 victory over Michigan on Friday night.
The first-place Nittany Lions got off on the right foot against the Wolverines as Seiler put away a 10th-minute penalty kick for an early lead. From there, Seiler's excellent defending kept Michigan at bay for most of the match. It wasn't until the final seven minutes, and with Penn State holding a 3-0 lead, did Michigan tally a goal.
For Seiler, the award is his first recognition by the league office. Moreover, Penn State earned Defensive Player of the Week for the second straight time after Andrew Wolverton's (Atlanta, Ga.) honor last week. Seiler is tied for the team-lead in scoring with three goals this year and has logged more minutes (1107) than any other field player.
The Nittany Lions are off to a 3-0-0 start in Big Ten play and 8-3-1 overall. Penn State is rated 15th by the NCAA RPI through Oct. 13. Penn State travels to East Lansing on Sunday for a matchup with second-place No. 18 Michigan State (7-1-2, 1-0-1 Big Ten) at 2:30 p.m.