Aug. 25, 2016
| PENN STATE at No. 1 STANFORD | | | | 0-0-0 (0-0-0) | 0-0-0 (0-0-0) |
| | Friday, Aug. 26 | 8 p.m.
Palo Alto, Calif. | |
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| PENN STATE at UC BERKELEY | | | | 0-0-0 (0-0-0) | 0-0-0 (0-0-0) |
| | Sunday, Aug. 28 | 6 p.m.
Berkeley, Calif. | |
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MEN'S SOCCER KICKS OFF 2016 IN CALIFORNIA
The Penn State men's soccer team will start its 2016 in the Golden State as it will play its first match of the year against defending NCAA National Champions Stanford before closing out the weekend against UC Berkeley. The Nittany Lions and the Cardinal square off Friday, Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. ET and the Blue and White will meet up with Golden Bears Sunday, Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. ET.
TOUR OF THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Penn State will compete against some of the toughest teams in the nation in the 2016 season as it goes up against six team who have won a combined 16 National Championships, while eight teams on the 2016 slate have made a combined 33 appearances in the championship match. Most recently, Stanford notched the 2015 National Championship, while Big Ten foe Indiana picked up the win in the 2012 campaign.
KICKING OFF 2016 ON THE ROAD
The Nittany Lions will open its season on the road for the first time since the 2010 campaign, which was head coach Bob Warming's inaugural season with the squad. Since Warming has been at the helm, Penn State has opened the last five seasons inside the friendly confines of Jeffrey Field going 8-0-1 on opening weekend since 2011.
LAST TIME THE NITTANY LIONS STARTED ON THE ROAD
Penn State kicked off the 2010 season at the Wolstein Classic on the campus of Ohio State University, Sept. 3-5. The Nittany Lions first picked up a 5-0 victory over Buffalo in the season-opener before going on to defeat College of Charleston 1-0.
PENN STATE IN SEASON-OPENERS
The Nittany Lions have won their last eight season-openers, dating back to the 2008 campaign. Penn State defeated UCF 2-0 at the Wolstein Classic in the 2008 season to start its eight-year season-opening win streak. Last year, the Blue and White defeated San Francisco 1-0 with the game-winning goal coming from then-freshman Mac Curran. Penn State has not lost on opening day since the 2007 season when it fell to Syracuse 4-0 at the Ohio State Classic, Aug. 31.
NITTANY LIONS STRONG IN AUGUST UNDER WARMING
Penn State is 6-0-0 on opening day under head coach Bob Warming and 7-0-1 in the month of August. Last season, the Nittany Lions defeated San Francisco 1-0 before playing to a 1-1 double overtime tie against Navy to close out the month in 2015. Furthermore, Penn State has not lost a game in the month of August since 2008 when it fell to Florida Gulf Coast 1-0, Aug. 31.
NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK
The 2016 Penn State men's soccer team brought in 11 new student-athletes for the upcoming season, which includes three transfers and eight freshmen. The 2016 freshman class includes two goalkeepers, two defenders, two midfielders and two forwards. Arie Ammann and Josh Levine will look to make a difference in goal for the Nittany Lions, while Brandon Hackenberg and Mitchel Bringolf will help the defense. Finally, Frankie De La Camara, Collin Jouan, Pierre Reedy and Christian Sload will all help on the offensive attack.
SENIOR CLASS LOOKING TO GET BACK ON TOP
Three of the members of the 2016 senior class have been a part of a championship squad as the Nittany Lions nabbed a Big Ten Championship in the 2013 campaign. Then-freshman Connor Maloney paced Penn State with seven assists, while scoring two goals for the Blue and White. Also seeing time on the pitch in his freshman season for the Nittany Lions was Mason Klerks, who dished out three assists.
COACHING CLOUT
Among the elite coaches in the sport for the last three decades, head coach Bob Warming is back for his seventh season at Penn State. Warming has an incredible coaching pedigree, including 448 career Division I victories -- second all-time among active Division I coaches and ninth all-time at DI. He was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2013 after leading PSU to a pair of league titles. Furthermore, Warming leads all Division I active coaches with a 28 combined regular season and conference tournament championships.
TOUGH SCHEDULE AHEAD FOR PENN STATE
Head coach Bob Warming scheduled one of the toughest slates for the Nittany Lions in 2016 as they will take on six teams that were ranked in the top-25 of the NSCAA Preseason Coaches Poll. Penn State kicks off the season with No. 1 Stanford, Aug. 26, before taking on No. 18 Ohio State for its Big Ten Conference opener, Sept. 13. The top-25 tour continues Sept. 18 when Penn State travels to No. 4 Maryland before meeting up with No. 15 Indiana, Oct. 8. Finally the Nittany Lions will go up against No. 2 Akron and No. 25 Rutgers in back-to-back matches, Oct. 18 and Oct. 21.
Last season, Penn State took one from then-No. 10 Indiana in the Third Annual Mack Brady Match off a goal from defender Robby Sagel and earned a 2-0 victory over Rutgers with goals from Brian James and Riley Grant. The Nittany Lions fought to a 1-1 double overtime tie against the eventual Big Ten Champions Ohio State but were unable to overcome Akron and Maryland in the 2015 campaign.
THREE NITTANY LIONS LAND PRESEASON HONORS
Seniors Evan Finney, Connor Maloney and Robby Sagel each earned Big Ten Preseason Honors as announced by the conference office. Finney closed out the 2015 season as the starting keeper for the Blue and White tallying a 2-2-1 overall record. The San Francisco, Calif. native earned one shut out and made 22 saves in his junior campaign, playing 476:10 minutes in the net. Maloney heads into the 2016 after earning First Team All-Big Ten for the second time in his career. The starting midfielder scored a team-high seven goals in 2015 and tallied two assists for a team-best 16 points. Finally, Sagel will take the pitch for his second season with the Nittany Lions after transferring to Penn State following his sophomore season. Sagel manned the backline for the Blue and White in 2015 and scored the game-winning goal against then-No. 10 Indiana at the Third Annual Mack Brady Game.
PRESEASON RECAP
Penn State came out strong in its 2016 preseason. The Nittany Lions welcomes University of Nebraska-Omaha to Jeffrey Field for an exhibition match in week two of the preseason. UNO got out to the early 1-0 lead over Penn State but the Nittany Lions responded with two goals of their own to take the 2-1 victory in its first preseason match.
Penn State closed out its preseason slate when it traveled to Pittsburgh for a match against the Riverhounds. After a scoreless first half, the Riverhounds found the back of the net on one occasion to take the 1-0 win over the Blue and White.
JEFFREY FIELD DOMINANCE
Penn State has enjoyed success at Jeffrey Field with over 300 victories at the famed field. Impressively, the Nittany Lions have never posted a losing season at Jeffrey Field in 43 years, going 320-83-35 all-time for a winning percentage of .771. Last season, PSU went 4-3-1 at the Jeff and over the past four seasons the Nittany Lions are 29-9-4 en route to a pair of Big Ten titles in 2012 and 2013. In the 43-year history of the stadium, Jeffrey Field has welcomed over 540,000 fans through its gates.
BIG TEN NETWORK SCHEDULE
The Nittany Lion men's soccer team will be featured on BTN three times in 2016 starting with the Badgers of Wisconsin Friday, Sept. 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Jeffrey Field. Penn State holds a 16-11-3 advantage over Wisconsin after tying 2-2 in double overtime in the 2015 campaign. The Blue and White will open the month of October in Ann Arbor, Mich. when it takes on the Wolverines in a noon match up Sunday, Oct. 2.
Finally, Penn State will return to the friendly confines of Jeffrey Field for a midweek match against Akron. The Nittany Lions and the Zips will square off at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18 to close outs its BTN slate.
Along with its three BTN matches, the men's soccer team will be featured on BTN Plus on nine occasions in the 2016 campaign starting with its Labor Day match against Oakland at 7 p.m. before closing out the week at Jeffrey Field Friday, Sept. 9 against Saint Francis. The Nittany Lion's BTN Plus slate continues Tuesday, Sept. 13 when they open the Big Ten Conference season against Ohio State at 7 p.m. at Jeffrey Field before hitting the road for a Sunday, Sept. 18 contest at Maryland. Penn State will return home to take on Temple Tuesday, Sept. 27 in a non-conference contest and head to Indiana Saturday, Sept. 8. The Blue and White will play two-straight home matches against Pittsburgh, Oct. 11, and Michigan State, Oct. 15 and close out its BTN Plus schedule in its final regular season match against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. Sunday, Oct. 30.
DUERNBERGER AND GRIFFITH PROMOTED
Head men's soccer coach Bob Warming announced the promotion of Chad Duernberger to Associate Head Coach Friday, June 17. Duernberger enters his sixth season at Penn State and his first season as associate head coach for the Nittany Lions. He maintains a role in team training and is also involved in a variety of administrative duties. Duernberger helped the Nittany Lions capture back-to-back Big Ten regular season trophies in 2012 and 2013 and has been on the sidelines during two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
Warming announced the hiring of Owen Griffith as an assistant coach for the 2016 season Thursday, July 14. Griffith will work with all positions with an emphasis on defenders and midfielders, while helping with team operations, daily player management and communication. Griffith is entering his second season on the sidelines with Warming in the 2016 campaign. He joined the Penn State men's soccer coaching staff after completing a four-year playing career under Warming and served as a volunteer assistant in the 2015 season.
FOURTH ANNUAL MACK BRADY GAME
For the second-straight season, Penn State will host the Fourth Annual Mack Brady Memorial Game on Sept. 13 when Ohio State visits Jeffrey Field. Brady passed away on Dec. 31, 2012 due to an unexpected blood infection at the age of eight. To honor his life and love for soccer (specifically goalkeeping), Mack's parents Christian and Elizabeth Brady created the "Mack Brady Memorial Soccer Fund." The fund is an endowment for Penn State goalkeepers to help in recruiting, equipment and other needs. Last season, PSU earned a 1-0 victory over then-No. 10 Indiana.
The match will mark the second time the Nittany Lions and the Buckeyes have squared off in the Mack Brady Match as Penn State defeated Ohio State 1-0 in the 2014 campaign in front of 2,000 fans at Jeffrey Field.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Nittany Lion kick off their 2016 home slate Friday, Sept. 2 when they take on James Madison at Jeffrey Field. Match time is slated for 7 p.m. Penn State closes out Labor Day Weekend Monday, Sept. 5 when Oakland visits Happy Valley for a 7 p.m. contest. Both contests are set to be streamed on GoPSUSports.com.
