Nov. 29, 2013
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The 16th-ranked and unseeded Penn State men's soccer team faces seventh-seeded and No. 25 New Mexico on Sunday night at UNM Soccer Complex in an NCAA Third Round match. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. ET with a live web stream available on GoLobos.com.
| #16 PENN STATE (13-5-2) at #25 NEW MEXICO (12-5-2) | |
| Match 21: December 1 • 7 p.m. ET • UNM Soccer Complex • Albuquerque, N.M. | |
| VENUE | UNM Soccer Complex (6,200; Grass) |
| COVERAGE | Live Video (FREE) | |
| SERIES RECORD | New Mexico leads 1-0-0 |
| LAST MEETING | Sept. 2, 2005; UNM 2-0 (at Ohio State) |
| POSSIBLE NEXT MATCH | Dec. 6-7 vs. Washington or Stanford |
| Penn State Game Notes | |
MATCH STORIES
• Lions travel to 7th-seeded New Mexico in an NCAA Third Round match
• Penn State-New Mexico winner advances to face either Washington or Stanford
• Nittany Lions sport a 27-29-1 all-time record in the NCAA tourney, 5-21-0 on the road
• PSU upended 10th-seeded UC Santa Barbara, 1-0, in the NCAA Second Round
• Connor Maloney scored his second goal of the season with 12 minutes remaining
• Penn State posted its third straight shutout for the first time since Sept. 6-21, 2012
• Nittany Lions have allowed just six shots on goal in past three matches
• Penn State has won five true road games for the first time since 2002
• Nittany Lions have held opponents to a goal or less in 18 of 20 matches this season
• UNM defeated George Mason on Sunday at home to advance to the Sweet 16
• The Lobos are led by the duo of James Rogers & Niko Hansen (19 points each)
• New Mexico will play just its third match in 22 days on Sunday
PENN STATE'S NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Penn State is making its 31st NCAA Tournament appearance, this season 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, which was a tough 1-0 loss at second-seeded Maryland.
Penn State is 27-29-1 all-time in the tournament with a 5-21-0 mark in away games. Saturday's win at UCSB was Penn State's first NCAA road win since Nov. 22, 1998, a 1-0 win at Connecticut. By knocking off the 10th-seeded Gauchos, Penn State eliminated the highest seed in the tournament to date. Penn State, Connecticut, Coastal Carolina and Stanford are the lone remaining unseeded teams left in the tournament.
Penn State has never faced New Mexico in the NCAA Tournament before. The only time PSU and UNM have met on the soccer field was a 2-0 Lobos win at Ohio State in the 2005 season opener.
The winner of Sunday's contest moves on to the NCAA Quarterfinals to face the winner of second-seeded Washington or Stanford with a spot in the College Cup on the line.
ABOUT THE LOBOS
New Mexico (12-5-2) enters Sunday's match on a 4-1-0 stretch following a 1-0 victory over George Mason in the NCAA Second Round. The only blemish during that stretch is a 3-0 loss to Tulsa in the Conference USA Semifinals in Charlotte, N.C. The Lobos are 7-3-1 at home and have won their past five matches at UNM Soccer Complex.
A defensively stingy side, New Mexico allows just seven shots a game and holds their opponents to less than a goal a game. Offensively, the Lobos pepper the defense with nearly 15 shots per game and averaging 1.68 goals per contest. UNM holds a commanding 127-56 disparity in corner kicks as well. Offensively, James Rogers and Niko Hansen have identical numbers, scoring seven times with five assists. Rogers leads the team in game-winners, while Michael Calderon and Hansen each have two game-winners. Calderon is third on the team in scoring with six goals and three helpers. Michael Lisch is the starting goalkeeper with a .696 save percentage and a 12-5-2 record to go along with eight shutouts.
COMMON ENEMIES
Penn State and New Mexico have faced just one common opponent this season: UC Santa Barbara. Penn State defeated the Gauchos 1-0 on Sunday, while New Mexico matched that score at Harder Stadium on Sept. 23.
SERIES HISTORY vs. UNM
All-Time Series: New Mexico leads 1-0-0
PSU Streak: 1 loss
Last Meeting: Sept. 2, 2005; UNM 2-0 (Columbus, Ohio)
PENN STATE UPSETS UCSB ON THE ROAD
A beautiful 78th-minute goal by freshman Connor Maloney helped No. 16 Penn State men's soccer past 10th-seeded and 15th-ranked UC Santa Barbara, 1-0, on Sunday night (Nov. 24) at Harder Stadium in front of 4,420 fans.
In a physical game that saw a combined 37 fouls committed and six cards shown, including a 6th-minute red card to UCSB's Fifi Baiden, Penn State (13-5-2) prevailed on a cool evening next to the Pacific Ocean. The Nittany Lions controlled the pace of play in the second half and eventually cracked the UCSB (12-6-3) code.
Mike Robinson whipped a cross to Jordan Tyler the top of the penalty arc as Tyler had his back to goal. He laid a perfectly timed pass to a running Maloney who took one touch to his right and uncorked an 18-yard bullet to the left-side netting past Gaucho goalkeeper Josh McNeely with just 12:15 remaining in the match.
The victory was just Penn State's fifth on the road in NCAA play. The last PSU road win in an NCAA match was Nov. 22, 1998 at Connecticut in the NCAA First Round. Penn State is in the round of 16 for the fifth time since 2001 and the second time under coach Bob Warming.
ROAD WARRIORS
Penn State is 5-4-0 away from the friendly confines of Jeffrey Field in true road games. The five victories are the most by a Penn State squad since 2002 when those Nittany Lions went 5-4-0 and fell in the Sweet 16 at UCLA. Preivous to this season, the last squad to post a winning record in true road games were the 2005 and 2004 teams, which went 4-2-1 and 3-1-3, respectively. The 1-0 win at UC Santa Barbara was Penn State's first on the road in NCAA play since 1998 at UConn, snapping a five-game skid.
ONE OR NONE STREAK BROKEN, NOW RESTORED
Penn State has allowed one goal or less in 18 of 20 matches this season, a pivotal aspect of the team's success. The Nittany Lions are 13-3-2 when holding opponents to a goal or less this season, while dropping both matches were two or more goals were allowed.
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 wins over St. Francis Brooklyn and UC Santa Barbara represented Penn State's first three-match shutout streak since Sept. 5-21, 2012 when the Nittany Lions tied West Virginia, 0-0, before defeating Adelphi, 3-0, and Wisconsin, 1-0.
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). Then came Connor Maloney's game-winning goal to send the Nittany Lions to the Sweet 16 on Sunday, Nov. 24 at UC Santa Barbara. Ten Nittany Lions have scored during the 2013 campaign with another three providing assists.
HOLDING OFFENSES AT BAY
The Nittany Lions have accomplshed a feat twice in the past three matches that they only were able to do once in the previous 17 games: hold an opponent to one shot on goal. Penn State has kept opposing offenses at bay, especially over the past three matches. Just six shots have reached Andrew Wolverton and he's saved all of them in three shutouts as Penn State went 2-0-1. Against Indiana and UC Santa Barbara, the high-flying Hoosiers and Gauchos managed just one shot apiece on goal. Prior to that, the Nittany Lions had only held Central Connecticut to a single shot on goal. Furthermore, the four total shots attempted by UCSB were a season-low by an opponent.
HE'S BACK
Following a two-game red card suspension shown at Akron, central defender Akil Howard returned to the field on Sunday night at Harder Stadium in PSU's 1-0 win over UCSB. Howard missed the Indiana and St. Francis Brooklyn matches and has been on the field for six of Penn State's eight shutouts this season.
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 previous eight 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.
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. New Mexico is ranked 25th by the coaches 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 428 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.