Nov. 12, 2014
2014 All-Big Ten Postseason Honors
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Buoyed by his career year, sophomore Connor Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection on the All-Big Ten First Team as announced Wednesday night.
Senior captains Owen Griffith (Lewisburg, Pa.) and Andrew Wolverton (Atlanta, Ga.) garnered spots on the All-Big Ten Second Team, while classmate Eli Dennis (Easton, Md.) was the team's representative for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
An All-Big Ten Freshman Team honoree a year ago, Maloney backed up his stellar debut campaign with an even more impressive sophomore march. During regular season play, Maloney led the Big Ten in goals (9), points (21) and game-winning goals (5), proving to be the most dangerous forward in the conference.
Maloney is the second Nittany Lion to win Offensive Player of the Year. Since 2009, Penn State has won three individual player awards: Jason Yeisley (2009 Offensive), Wolverton (2013 Goalkeeper) and Maloney (2014 Offensive).
The sophomore out of Harrisburg is also the 47th All-Big Ten First Team selection in the team's 24-year Big Ten tenure and was one of only two honorees to be unanimous choices by the league's coaches (Tyler Miller, Northwestern goalkeeper).
For Griffith, he captured his third straight All-Big Ten Second Team honor as a midfielder. Griffith has patrolled nearly every position on the field for the Nittany Lions in his four-year career. This season, he featured as a holding midfielder, scoring a goal and an assist.
Wolverton played in 17 of 18 games for the Nittany Lions en route to his second All-Big Ten Second Team honor. The 6-6 netminder was the league's Goalkeeper of the Year last season and captured his third straight All-Big Ten honor on Wednesday. Wolverton pitched nine shutouts this season.
A starter in all 18 games and playing in all but seven minutes this season, Dennis moved to defense this season after a two-year stint as a forward. Dennis helped guide the Nittany Lion defense to 10 shutouts as the central defender. The sportsmanship award is awarded to one member of each Big Ten team.
The Nittany Lions capped their regular season at 12-5-1 and entered this week at No. 19 in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index. Penn State will find out Monday at Noon its postseason fate. First round games are set for Nov. 20 and second round matches are scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 23.