| PENN STATE at No. 6 INDIANA | | | | 4-5-1 (2-2-0 B1G) | 6-1-4 (1-0-3 B1G) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 7:30 p.m. | | Bill Armstrong Stadium | Bloomington, Ind. | |
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Oct. 7, 2016
PENN STATE HEADS TO HOOSIER COUNTRY FOR MATCH AGAINST IU
The Penn State men's soccer team continues its short road stint when it travels to Bloomington, Ind. Saturday Oct. 8 for a 7:30 p.m. match against Indiana University. The match will mark the third top 10 team that the Nittany Lions have taken on this season as Indiana comes into the match at No. 6 in week six of the 2016 campaign. For fans who are unable to make it the match, it will be aired on BTN Plus ($) and live stats will be made available at IUHoosiers.com.
SERIES HISTORY WITH THE HOOSIERS
Despite Indiana carrying the advantage in the all-time series with Penn State, the Nittany Lions have been closing the gap in the past few seasons.
The Blue and White notched a 1-0 victory over then-No. 10 Indiana on Mack Brady Day in 2015 off a Robby Sagel goal. Prior to that, Penn State traveled to Bloomington, Ind. in both 2013 and 2014 and brought wins back to Happy Valley, including handing the Hoosiers their first Big Ten opening day loss in the history of the program in the 2014 campaign.
The Nittany Lions also played Indiana to a 0-0 draw in double overtime at the 2013 Big Ten Tournament, but fell in penalty kicks, 5-3, allowing the Hoosiers to advance to the finals.
KEEPING INDIANA SCORELESS
Penn State is looking to close the gap a little tighter this year in the all-time series as it travels to Bloomington, Ind. for the first time since the 2014 season when it brought back a 1-0 victory over the Hoosiers.
In the last five years Penn State has seen a lot of success against Indiana, coming away with five wins and losing once in a shootout at the Big Ten Tournament in the 2013 campaign. Furthermore, the Nittany Lions have not given up a goal in regulation play to the Hooisers in 450 minutes, dating back to 2011, and are hoping to continue that trend on Saturday.
SCOUTING INDIANA
The Hoosiers have quickly risen to the top of the rankings, coming in as the No. 6 team in the Saturday match. Indiana has a 6-1-4 overall record and is 1-0-3 in conference matches. IU currently leads the Big Ten Conference with 209 total shots and 87 corners on the season, while ranking second in goals with 14. Indiana strikers Richard Ballard and Tanner Thompson tie for third in the B1G with four goals and tie for sixth with 10 overall points. In net, Colin Webb paces the league with six shoutouts in the 2016 campaign and ranks fourth with 32 saves on the season.
NITTANY LIONS LOOKING FOR FIRST ROAD WIN
When Penn State heads to Bloomington, Ind. it will be looking to secure its first home win of the 2016 campaign. So far this season the Nittany Lions are 0-3-1 on the road with its tie coming against then-No. 1 Stanford.
GETTING BACK TO SCORING
The Nittany Lions have suffered a two-game scoring drought after scoring muliple goals in three-straight games this season. Prior to being shut out against Temple and at Michigan, Penn State had tallied six goals in three matches and picked up two Big Ten wins in that time period.
NITTANY LIONS IN THE BIG TEN
Coming into the fourth week of conference action, Penn State ranks third in goals per game with 1.30. The Nittany Lions' 13 goals on the season also tie for third with Ohio State and are only one goal shy of tying for second with Indiana.
Individually, senior Connor Maloney ties for second with four goals on the season and ranks second with 0.50 goals per game in 2016. The Harrisburg, Pa. native also ranks third in the conference with 11 points on the season and tied for third with three assists. Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Evan Finney leads the Big Ten with a .864 save percentage and a 0.62 goals against average while ranking second in the conference with 3.80 saves per match.
MALONEY ON THE EDGE OF ETCHING HIS NAME IN THE RECORDS
Senior Connor Maloney has scored 23 goals in his career thus far donning the Blue and White. If Maloney scores at least six more goals this season, the senior will rank 15th all-time in Penn State career goals with 29. Furthermore, Maloney needs just two more assists to tie for 18th all-time in Penn State laurels.
NITTANY LIONS FALL AT MICHIGAN
The Penn State men's soccer team was unable to come away with its first road victory of the 2016 campaign, falling to the University of Michigan 2-0 in a Big Ten Conference match Sunday, Oct. 2 at the U-M Soccer Stadium. The Nittany Lions totaled 12 shots in the match, three of which tested keeper Evan Louro, while the Wolverines had 18 shots with nine shots on goal. The Canadian duo of Aymar Sigue and Dayonn Harris had all three shots on goal for the Blue and White with Sigue putting two on net and Harris having one. Seniors Connor Maloney and Riley Grant each took one shot for the Nittany Lions. Penn State split time in net with redshirt-junior Evan Finney making five saves in the first half before Arie Ammann started the second half, making two saves and giving up two goals in the loss.
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.
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 452 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.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State returns to Happy Valley for a five-game home stint Tuesday, Oct. 11 when it welcomes in-state foe Pittsburgh to town for a 7 p.m. match at Jeffrey Field.
