| PENN STATE at No. 6 MICHIGAN STATE | | | | 2-8-2 (0-5-0 B1G) | 9-2-2 (3-0-2 B1G) |
| Saturday, Oct. 14 | 4 p.m. | DeMartin Stadium
East Lansing, Mich. | |
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Oct. 13, 2017
PENN STATE ROAD TRIP CONTINUES AT MICHIGAN STATE
The Penn State men's soccer team will travel to East Lansing, Michigan Saturday, Oct. 14 for its sixth Big Ten Conference match of the 2017 campaign. The Blue and White will face off with the Spartans of Michigan State University at 3 p.m. at DeMartin Stadium.
CATCHING THE GAME FROM HOME
Fans who are unable to make the trip with the Nittany Lions to East Lansing, Michigan can catch all the action live on BTN Plus with a paid subscription. Fans can also follow along with live stats on MSUSpartans.com or follow along with live updates on Penn State men's soccer Twitter at @PennStateMSOC.
SERIES HISTORY WITH THE SPARTANS
The Nittany Lions hold the 22-14-2 all-time series advantage over the Spartans but split with MSU in the 2016 season, earning the regular season victory before falling in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal.In the past six seasons, Penn State and Michigan State have met on the pitch a total of nine times with PSU earning four wins and MSU taking five. The Nittany Lions have come out on the winning end of the match in two of the last three contests with a 1-0 double overtime win in the 2016 season and a 1-0 overtime win in the 2015 Big Ten Tournament.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State comes into the weekend match ranked No. 6 on the NSCAA rankings with a 9-2-2 overall record. Furthermore, the Spartans come in as the No. 1 team in RPI for week seven of the season. Most recently, the Spartans dropped a 1-0 contest at West Virginia. MSU has taken on six ranked opponents in the 2017 campaign, coming up with wins over four.
DeJuan Jones has scored a team-best six goals in his junior season and had two assists for 14 points, while Ryan Sierakowski has four goals in his junior campaign. Connor Corrigan has had an eye for finding goal scorers this season with six assists and Michael Pimlott has four assists for the Spartans. Jones's goals tie for first in the Big Ten Conference with Mason Toye from Indiana and Chris Mueller from Wisconsin.
Redshirt-junior Jimmy Hague has played every minute in goal for Michigan State with 37 saves and a 0.59 goals against average. Hague has given up eight goals on the season and had eight shutouts.
LEVINE AVERAGING 10 SAVES PER GAME
Since moving into the starting role at keeper for the Nittany Lions, redshirt-freshman Josh Levine has made 31 saves in 334:42 minutes of play. Levine made his first collegiate save in the final nine minutes against Temple when he came in as a sub and has since had two double-digit save efforts for the Blue and White. The Rockville Centre, New York native made 11 saves against the potent No. 1 Indiana offense before getting back on the pitch three days later and making 10 saves against Pittsburgh. In his first collegiate start against then-No. 20 Michigan, Levine made nine saves for the Nittany Lions in the double overtime loss.
BECKFORD FINDS BACK OF THE NET FOR SECOND TIME
Freshman Ethan Beckford has scored two goals in the past three matches for the Nittany Lions. The freshman forward scored his first collegiate goal against then-No. 20 Michigan to give Penn State the lead in the first half of action. After the team was shut out against No. 1 Indiana and time was dwindling down against Pittsburgh, Beckford raced down the field and scored the equalizer with less than a minute remaining in the match to send it into overtime.
PRITCHATT SCORES FIRST CAREER GOAL
Freshman Callum Pritchatt scored his first career goal donning the Blue and White at Pittsburgh. Pritchatt quickly responded to a Panther goal in the 31st minute when he knotted the score against Pitt at 1-1 as he brought the ball down the left side of the field and took the off-centered shot into the far right corner of the net in the 37th minute.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD AT GRAND PARK
The Big Ten Men's Soccer Tournament will take place at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana, as announced by the Big Ten. The men's semifinals and championship game are set for Nov. 10 and 12. Last year, the Big Ten Men's Soccer Tournament semifinals and championship game were played at the facility for the first time, with Maryland earning a 2-1 victory over Wisconsin in the final.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State will play its third-straight away match when it makes the short trip to Piscataway, New Jersey for a 1 p.m. contest Sunday, Oct. 22.
