Sept. 29, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
P enn State men's soccer sophomore forward Connor Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Monday afternoon. Maloney scored three times and added an assist in a pair of Penn State victories over Penn and Michigan.
Maloney, the conference leader in goals (7), points (16) and game-winning goals (4), scored twice against Penn in a 6-2 victory on Wednesday before tallying the lone goal vs. Michigan on Sunday. Maloney's five-point game against Penn was a career-high showing. The weekly honor is the first for Maloney, who was also named to the College Soccer News Team of the Week.
The stout sophomore is the first Nittany Lion to register more than six goals in a season since 2010 when Corey Hertzog tallied 20 goals. Maloney has also stacked up well in the national rankings as he is second in game-winning goals, fifth in total goals and eighth in total points.
Maloney is the second Nittany Lion to gather the Big Ten's weekly offensive award after Mikey Minutillo (San Jose, Calif.) earned the honor last week. Overall, four Nittany Lions have won weekly awards including Andrew Wolverton's (San Jose, Calif.) co-defensive laurel last week and Mason Klerks' (Corona, Calif.) defensive honor on Sept. 15.
The Nittany Lions (8-0-1, 3-0-0 Big Ten) tackle Bucknell in a road match Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The Penn State-Bucknell contest is the NSCAA's National Game of the Week and will air live on NSCAATV.com free of charge.