Aug. 15, 2018
Big Ten Conference Release
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Penn State men's soccer senior Brennan Ireland, junior Aaron Molloy and sophomore Ethan Beckford earned Big Ten preseason honors as announced by the conference office Wednesday.
Earning preseason honors for the second consecutive season, Molloy played and started in 16 games in his first season with the Blue and White after transferring to Penn State from Keiser University in 2017. The Dublin, Ireland, native logged 1,396 minutes on the pitch and scored three goals, the second most on the team. Molloy was also dubbed a team captain for the upcoming 2018 season.
Ireland appeared in 16 matches with 10 starts on the backline for the Nittany Lions in 2017. The Annapolis, Md., native helped Penn State to two shutouts as a defensive back and registered 929 minutes of action on the pitch. Ireland is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and was named a 2016-17 Distinguished Scholar by the conference.
Beckford returns to the Penn State frontline as a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team honoree. In his rookie campaign with the Nittany Lions, Beckford paced the team with 11 points (5G, 1A). The Manchester, England, native also posted the first multi-goal game of his career on Oct. 22 at Rutgers, becoming the first men's soccer student-athlete to have a two-goal game since Connor Maloney on Oct. 18, 2016.
Indiana was selected as the league's preseason favorite by the nine men's coaches with the Nittany Lions picked to finish tied for sixth in the conference, according to the poll.
Ireland, Molloy, Beckford and the 2018 squad opens up the season under first-year head coach Jeff Cook on Friday, Aug. 24 against UCF at 7 p.m. at Jeffrey Field. Parking and admission is free for all fans during regular-season games.
2018 BIG TEN MEN'S SOCCER PRESEASON HONORS LIST
Andrew Gutman, Sr., D, Indiana
Francesco Moore, Sr., M, Indiana
Trey Muse, So., GK, Indiana
Donovan Pines, Jr., D, Maryland
Amar Sejdic, Sr., M, Maryland
Dayne St. Clair, Jr., GK, Maryland
Marcello Borges, Sr., D, Michigan
Jack Hallahan, Jr., F, Michigan
Robbie Mertz, Sr., M, Michigan
Jimmy Hague, Sr., GK, Michigan State
DeJuan Jones, Sr., F, Michigan State
Ryan Sierakowski, Sr., F, Michigan State
Camden Buescher, Sr., M, Northwestern
Tommy Katsyiannis, So., M, Northwestern
Garrett Opperman, So., D, Northwestern
Brady Blackwell, Sr., M, Ohio State
Parker Siegfried, Jr., GK, Ohio State
Will Hirschman, So., D, Ohio State
Ethan Beckford, So., F, Penn State
Brennan Ireland, Sr., D, Penn State
Aaron Molloy, Jr., M, Penn State
Zeno Mazzucato, So., D, Rutgers
Rafael Pereira, Sr., GK, Rutgers
Bryce Washington, So., D, Rutgers
Mitch Guitar, Jr., M, Wisconsin
Noah Leibold, Jr., M, Wisconsin
Robin Olofsson, Jr., D, Wisconsin
2018 BIG TEN MEN'S SOCCER PRESEASON POLL
1. Indiana
2. Michigan State
3. Maryland
4. Michigan
5. Wisconsin
T-6. Ohio State
T-6. Penn State
8. Northwestern
9. Rutgers