Sept. 15, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
S ophomore defender Mason Klerks (Corona, Calif.) was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for his performance on Saturday night against No. 11 Indiana.
Klerks, who moved to right fullback for the Nittany Lions in 2014, scored his first collegiate goal on a wonderfully-placed shot in the 27th minute at Indiana. Klerks picked up the corner kick from Brian James (Sunrise, Fla.) at the top of the penalty arc and lofted a perfect shot to the upper left corner of the net.
Penn State defeated Indiana, 1-0, for the second time in three matches, shutting out the Hoosiers for the third straight match, a string of 290 minutes. Klerks was on the field for all of those minutes, the last 90 as a defender.
On Saturday night, the Hoosiers managed just two shots on frame as Penn State shut them out for the second straight time on the road. In the previous 35 years, Penn State had never pitched a shutout at Armstrong Stadium.
The Nittany Lions (4-0-1, 1-0-0 Big Ten) are seeking their third straight Big Ten title and are 9-2-2 in their last 13 Big Ten regular-season matches. On Tuesday, they'll step out of conference play to host Saint Francis at 7 p.m., before hosting Ohio State on Sunday at 1 p.m.