Nov. 23, 2013
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- - The 16th-ranked Penn State men's soccer team faces No. 15 and 10th-seeded UC Santa Barbara on Sunday night at Harder Stadium in an NCAA Second Round match. Kick-off is set for 9 p.m. ET with a live web stream available on UCSBGauchos.com.
| #16 PENN STATE (12-5-2) at #15 UC SANTA BARBARA (12-5-3) | |
| Match 20: November 24 • 9 p.m. ET • Harder Stadium • Santa Barbara, Calif. | |
| VENUE | Harder Stadium (17,000; Grass) |
| COVERAGE | BigWest.TV (FREE) | |
| SERIES RECORD | 0-0-0 |
| LAST MEETING | n/a, First meeting 11/24 |
| POSSIBLE NEXT MATCH | Sunday, Dec. 1 vs. New Mexico or George Mason |
| Penn State Game Notes | |
MATCH STORIES
• Lions travel to 10th-seeded UC Santa Barbara in an NCAA Second Round match
• Penn State-UCSB winner advances to either New Mexico or George Mason
• Nittany Lions sport a 26-29-1 all-time record in the NCAA tourney, 4-20-1 on the road
• Penn State is in California for the first time since 2008
• Nittany Lions downed St. Francis Brooklyn, 1-0, in the NCAA First Round on Thursday
• Eli Dennis scored his fourth goal of the year off a Drew Klingenberg cross vs. SFC
• Andrew Wolverton made four saves for his seventh shutout of the year vs. SFC
• UCSB last played Nov. 15 in a 3-2 loss to CS Northridge in the Big West semifinals
• The Gauchos are led offensively by Goffin Boyoko's eight goals
PENN STATE'S NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Penn State is making its 31st NCAA Tournament appearance, all of which have come since 1970. For the Nittany Lions, PSU is in the tournament for the first time since 2010 in Bob Warming's first year when the Nittany Lions reached the Sweet 16 in a tough 1-0 loss at second-seeded Maryland.
Penn State is 26-29-1 all-time in the tournament with a 21-7-1 mark at Jeffrey Field. With Thursday's game against St. Francis, the Nittany Lions have played eight home NCAA games in the past 10 matchups dating back to 2002. PSU hasn't won an away NCAA match since a 1-0 win at UConn in 1998.
This is the first tournament where PSU was unseeded since 2002 when only the top eight were seeded. The last time Penn State played in the NCAA First Round was 1999 in a 1-0 win over William & Mary.
Penn State has never faced a team from the Big West in the NCAA Tournament and has played just one game in the Pacific Time Zone, a quarterfinal loss at UCLA in 2002. Penn State is 4-21-0 on the road in NCAA Tournament matches.
The winner of Sunday's contest moves on to play the winner of seventh-seeded New Mexico or George Mason.
ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara (12-5-3) enters Sunday's match on a 1-1-3 stretch and a tough 3-2 loss at Harder Stadium to Cal State Northridge in the Big West semifinals on Nov. 15. In that game, two UCSB starters, defender Kevin Garcia-Lopez and midfielder Drew Murphy, will miss Sunday's match due to red-card suspensions. UCSB is 7-4-1 at Harder Stadium this season.
The Gauchos are led by Goffin Boyoko's eight goals and 19 points and Achille Campion's seven goals and two assists. Campion is returning from an injury that saw him miss the past few matches. Forward Charlie Miller has added three goals as well. Another starter who may miss Sunday due to injury is defender Peter Schmetz who has three goals. In net, freshman Josh McNeely has started 18 of 20 matches (11-4-3) with a 0.82 GAA and .775 save percentage. McNeely has posted six shutouts this season.
COMMON ENEMIES
Penn State and UCSB have faced two common opponents with both teams earning 2-0-0 records. Penn State won 2-1 away at Penn and 2-1 in OT at home to Northwestern, while UCSB beat Penn 2-1 in OT and Northwestern 3-1 in Evanston.
NITTANY LIONS TAKE OUT THE TERRIERS
A 37th-minute Eli Dennis goal off a cross from Drew Klingenberg, along with stout defending by Nate Lee, Martin Seiler, Mike Robinson and Connor Maloney, gave Penn State a 1-0 win over St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday in the NCAA First Round. Andrew Wolverton made four saves for his seventh clean sheet of the year and 22nd of his career as SFC was shut out for just the fifth time all season. Shot were even at 10-10, while Penn State led in corners, 5-1.
SPREAD OFFENSE
Penn State has relied on multiple offensive weapons for its goal production this year. Early on, it was Mark Wadid who provided three game-winning goals. In the middle of the season and in Big Ten play, it was Jordan Tyler's five goals and four game-winners that helped PSU to its fifth Big Ten title. Sandwiched between those two strikers has been Eli Dennis (2 game-winners), Shane Campbell (1) and Owen Griffith (1). Ten Nittany Lions have scored during the 2013 campaign with another three providing assists.
CALIFORNIA DREAMING
Penn State makes its first trip over the Rockies to California since 2008 when the Nittany Lions took part in the BMW/Nike Soccer Challenge hosted by the University of San Francisco. PSU and Saint Mary's played to a scoreless draw before the Nittany Lions fell to host San Francisco, 2-0. In 2007, Penn State earned a 2-0 win at Call State Fullerton and a 4-1 loss at UCLA.
HE'S BACK
Following a two-game red card suspension shown at Akron, central defender Akil Howard can return to the field on Sunday night at Harder Stadium. Howard missed the Indiana and St. Francis Brooklyn matches and has been on the field for five of Penn State's seven shutouts this season.
STINGY HOME DEFENSE
Junior goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton has allowed just 6 goals in 1,051 minutes of action this season (0.51 GAA), collecting 29 saves through the first 10 home games (8-1-1). The netminder has made a career on clean sheets, posting 22 shutouts in 48 career starts (45.8 percent). Wolverton set the Penn State single-season record for shutouts as a freshman (12), and is currently fourth on the PSU career shutout list, two away from tying second place.
FREE SOCCER
Penn State has featured in seven overtime contests this year, all of them requiring two extra frames. The Nittany Lions are 2-3-2 in overtime this season with five of the past seven matches being decided by free soccer.
DEFYING THE ODDS
Penn State was picked fifth in the preseason Big Ten coaches' poll and went unranked and unvoted in the NSCAA preseason poll. The young Nittany Lions exceeded all expectations to win their second straight Big Ten title and earn a top 10 national ranking three weeks ago.
ONE OR NONE STREAK BROKEN, NOW RESTORED
During Penn State's incredible 9-1-1 run from Sept. 13-Oct. 29, a staple of the Nittany Lions was defense. In fact, until the Akron loss on Nov. 6, Penn State had allowed more than a single goal just once all year, a rare 4-1 loss at Rutgers on Sept. 6. Penn State had kept opponents to one goal or less in 15 of 16 games prior to Akron as Penn State surged to a 11-4-1 record.
Penn State's stout defense rebounded against a formidable Indiana offense, shutting out the Hoosiers for the second time, the first shutout for Penn State since a 2-0 win over the Hoosiers on Oct. 6. Penn State was the first team since Michigan State's 2008 squad to shut out the Hoosiers twice in the same season. The 1-0 win over St. Francis Brooklyn represented Penn State's first back-to-back shutouts since Sept. 17-22 in 1-0 wins over Duquesne and Robert Morris.
IN THE RANKINGS
On Tuesday, Oct. 15, Penn State received its first national ranking from the NSCAA, checking at No. 17, which was the first NSCAA ranking since Sept. 25, 2012. Two weeks ago, Penn State vaulted up to 9th, but has since fallen to 16th last week and maintained the same ranking this week. In the NCAA RPI released Oct. 28, Penn State moved up to No. 5. Prior to the Big Ten Tournament, Penn State checked in at 12th in the RPI. UC Santa Barbara is ranked 15th entering Sunday's match.
COACHING CLOUT
Among the elite coaches in the sports for the last three decades, head coach Bob Warming is back for his fourth season at Penn State. Warming has an incredible coaching pedigree, including 427 career Division I victories -- second all-time among active DI coaches and third all-time at D-I. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2013 after leading PSU to a pair of league titles.