| PENN STATE vs. SAINT FRANCIS | | | | 2-1-1 (0-0-0) | 2-2-0 (0-0-0) |
| Friday, Sept. 9 | 8 p.m. | | Jeffrey Field | University Park, Pa. | Promotions |
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Sept. 8, 2016
PENN STATE TAKES ON SAINT FRANCIS AT JEFFREY FIELD
The Penn State men's soccer team continues its four-match homestand Friday, Sept. 9 when in-state foe Saint Francis comes to town for an 8 p.m. match at Jeffrey Field. The match will be the second leg of a doubleheader with the women's soccer team that takes on San Diego State at 5:30 p.m. at the Jeff.
WARMING EARNS 450TH CAREER VICTORY
Head coach Bob Warming notched his 450th career victory as a head coach when the Nittany Lions picked up a 2-1 overtime win over Oakland Sept. 5. Warming ranks second among active Division I coaches in victories just behind South Carolina's Mark Berson who has 484 career wins as a head coach. Furthermore, Warming was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2013 after leading PSU to a pair of league titles. Moreover, Warming leads all Division I active coaches with a 28 combined regular season and conference tournament championships.
PSU REMAINS PERFECT UNDER WARMING IN HOME OPENERS
Under the tutelage of head coach Bob Warming, the Nittany Lions are a perfect 7-0 in home openers since he arrived at Penn State in 2010. Furthermore, his squads have outscored opponents 10-1 on opening day and have not given up a goal since Warming's inaugural season in 2010 when they defeated Bucknell 2-1.
SIGUE RETURNS FROM COSTA RICA TO SCORE GAME-WINNER
Junior transfer Aymar Sigue made a week-long trip to Costa Rica to play for the Canadian Nationa Team, missing two regular season games for the Nittany Lions. The junior transfer missed Penn State's contest against Cal and its match against JMU before returning in time for its Labor Day match against Oakland. Playing just seven minutes in the second half after 10 hours of travel, Sigue found the ball six yard outs from the net in the first minute of overtime. Sigue blasted the ball right at the keeper who was able to make the save. However, the shot was too hard as it squeaked out of his hands, allowing Sigue to rip a shot into the lower half of the net for the game-winner.
AMMANN NAMED BIG TEN DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the second consecutive week, Penn State men's soccer has been awarded with the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week as freshman Arie Ammann earned his first career honor getting the win in both matches this past weekend.
Ammann earned the nod for both starts after an injury to senior goalkeeper Evan Finney and proved to be a good choice for the Nittany Lions as he played 181:42 minutes on the pitch and conceded just one goal in two matches.
The Round Hill, Va. native made his first start donning the Blue and White in Friday's home-opener against the JMU Dukes in which he made a career-high five saves in the match and tallied his first career shutout. Moving into Monday's contest, Ammann gave up one goal late in the match but held on in the remaining minutes as the Nittany Lions went on to a 2-1 overtime victory over Oakland. Ammann made two saves in the match and picked up his second victory in as many games.
On the week, Ammann tallied seven saves and gave up just one goal. The freshman keeper has made a total of nine saves in 191:01 minutes on the pitch and carries a .818 save percentage.
MALONEY FINDING THE NET
Senior Connor Maloney has found ways to score in the 2016 campaign, scoring one goal in each of the last three games for the Nittany Lions. Maloney scored the first goal of the 2016 for the Blue and White at UC Berkeley before returning to Happy Valley for the final home opener of his collegiate career. The senior captain netted what would be the winning goal against JMU as he tapped the ball into the lower half of the net as he fell to the ground. Maloney's scoring continued into Penn State's match against Oakland as he again scored the first goal of the match in the off a free kick just outside the 18-yard box.
SCOUTING SAINT FRANCIS
The Red Flash come into the Friday night contest with a 2-2-0 record with its most recent win coming against Cincinnati Sept. 4. Saint Francis returns their top-two scorers from the 2015 campaign. This season four different players have contributed to the four goals for the Red Flash, while Dominic Ramirez has found the goal scorer on three of the four occasions.
In net, senior goalkeeper Marcus Rojas has gotten the nod in all four matches and carries a 1.22 goals against average into Friday's match. Rojas has made 10 saves and allowed five goals to score in 369:09 minutes on the pitch.
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 322-83-35 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.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State closes out its four-game homestand when it opens its 2016 Big Ten Conference schedule with defending conference champion Ohio State Tuesday, Sept. 13. The match with also be the 4th Annual Mack Brady Game, starting at 7 p.m.
