Oct. 2, 2014 UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Matt Allibone, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- When it comes to Penn State men's soccer goalie Andrew Wolverton, numbers go a long way in telling his story.
Like the fact that he has started 60 of a possible 70 games for the Nittany Lions over the past four seasons. Or that he holds Penn State's record for career shutouts (30), single-season shutouts (12 in 2011) and career goals-against-average (.72 entering this season).
Still, numbers don't tell the entire tale of what Wolverton has meant to the Nittany Lions. For the past four years, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound goalkeeper has been a role model to his teammates as an example of hard work, dedication and leadership.
How integral is Wolverton to the Nittany Lions success? At the team's preseason press conference in August, a reporter remarked to head coach Bob Warming that Wolverton had seemingly been on the team for "decades," to which Warming responded, "thank god."
Everyone in the room chuckled, but at the same time, it was an indicator of just how much the Lions value their goalie. For a team that has won 11 games by a score of 1-0 over the past two years, there really is no substitute for having someone with Wolverton's combination of size and agility between the pipes.
With the Atlanta native having registered his team record 29th shutout last Sunday against Michigan before adding his 30th on Wednesday against Bucknell, we caught up with him to hear some of his thoughts on his Penn State career.
Q: When did you start playing soccer and were you always a goalie?
Wolverton: "I've played soccer pretty much my entire life. My older sister always played and I kind of just took after her. I started playing goalie pretty young, like nine or 10 I think. One of my coaches just threw me there and it just fit. Before that, I wouldn't really say I had a set position because I was so young."
Q: Who was your favorite athlete growing up?
Wolverton: "I would have to say Michael Jordan. I always loved basketball and played it growing up and he was obviously the best at it. I played basketball until my freshmen year of high school, then I focused on soccer."
Q: What led you to come to Penn State?
Wolverton: "I visited the school when I was in high school before Coach Warming came here (in 2010). At the time I wanted to major in engineering (he switched to management) and I knew it was a great school as well as a great soccer program. What drew me to Penn State was just the unity and all the bonding in the community that was here."
Q: Who has had the biggest impact on you as a player during your time in college?
Wolverton: "For my first three years it was definitely [former goalie coach] Bo Oshoniyi. But this year [new goalie coach] Mike Behonick has helped me out a lot. Mike has a little different style of teaching goalkeeping, but they both have helped push me to get better and to stay focused."
Q: What has been your biggest challenge during your time at Penn State?
Wolverton: "Just continuing to be a leader. I've always tried to lead and make good decisions for the team. Luckily we've got a great staff and a lot of other good leaders like Owen [Griffith] to help me out. I know a lot of players can lose focus after a while and stop caring, so just continuing to care and trying to always get better has been big for me."
Q: What has been the most memorable moment of your career?
Wolverton: "I don't know if I could single out one moment, but last year (Big Ten Championship, Sweet 16 appearance) was pretty cool. We had some big wins on the road that were a lot of fun for our team, especially in the NCAA Tournament in California (beating UC Santa Barbra 1-0). Obviously, winning the Big Ten the past two years was sweet."
While Wolverton may not have a single favorite moment of his own, he has produced many highlights and memories for his teammates, both on and off the field. The Nittany Lions current starting defenders, Eli Dennis, Mason Klerks and Mike Robinson, as well as senior co-captain and defensive center midfielder Owen Griffith, all shared their favorite Wolverton moment.
Redshirt Senior Eli Dennis: "When he's on the field, he's loud and always communicating, but off he field, he's not really much of a public speaker usually. Before the Indiana game this season, he gave us a pep talk because he couldn't travel with us (Wolverton has been given a red card the previous game). He had trouble saying it at first and we all just cracked up. He had a great message though. Basically, he told us we can play against anybody and it doesn't matter which 11 guys are on the field. No matter who was out there, he thought we could get it done."
Sophomore Mason Klerks: "On the field, I guess he's made a lot of good saves, but the one that sticks out is last year against Northwestern. We beat them (2-1 in double OT) to win the Big Ten Title and he made this awesome diving save (in the 36th minute) to keep us in the game.
"Off the field, when I came here on my recruiting trip, I stayed with him one night. He was just a real cool guy and we had a great time. It was one of the reasons I came here."
Senior Mike Robinson: "The Northwestern game, that's a good one. My favorite game memory would probably be the Michigan game that just happened when he set the shutout record. I was closest to the ball when it looked like it was going in (in the 82nd minute). Just when it looks like it's going in the goal he makes this incredible save. It just goes to show you that even when you think you've seen everything he can do, he ends up surprising you with a little more."
Senior Owen Griffith: "Probably for me would be the Northwestern game. He made a huge save and we would have lost the Big Ten if it weren't for that.
"Our sophomore year though, we had our first apartment together. We ended up getting a [husky] dog that Andrew still has to this day. We named him Rooney. We always had to let him out of the apartment like 10 times a day."
With plenty of soccer still to be played this season, it is likely that Wolverton has yet to produce his finest moment. At the same, he has already given Nittany Lion soccer fans plenty to cheer about.