UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's soccer team, under new head coach Jeff Cook, will continue its 2018 campaign inside the friendly confines of Jeffrey Field, playing host to the visiting Bowling Green Falcons on Tuesday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
Tuesday's match will be streamed live on BTN+. Fans can also follow along with all the action by following the team on Twitter @PennStateMSOC.
LAST TIME OUT
Penn State men's soccer has opened the 2018 slate in full force Friday evening, battling UCF for full regulation time plus two overtime periods, but ultimately falling to the Knights, 2-1. Freshman striker Jeremy Rafanello made his debut donning the Blue and White, starting on the frontline for the Nittany Lions and not holding back, scoring his first collegiate goal in the ninth minute to put Penn State up 1-0 early. While being outshot 24-10, the Nittany Lions were able to maintain a strong defensive unit in front of goalkeeper Josh Levine throughout the game, helping him to eight total saves. The Knights were able to pull away in the 102nd minute, scoring off a corner kick in double overtime to win.
PENN STATE AGAINST BOWLING GREEN
The Nittany Lions will face the Bowling Green Falcons for the first time in nearly 20 seasons. The two teams last matched up on Sept. 24, 1999 when the Blue and White outlasted the Falcons in double overtime, 1-0, to tie the series history at one win each. Penn State will look to break that tie Tuesday evening.
SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN
Falcons' senior Ebenezer Ackon scored two goals just over a minute apart, but it was not enough to overcome a three-goal deficit as Bowling Green fell, 3-2, to Northern Kentucky Saturday evening. Ackon and fellow senior Tate Robertson hooked up on two Bowling Green corners late in regulation, but were unable to find the equalizer. Falcons' goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia made two saves in the match.
The Falcons outshot NKU 13-9 but only had two shots on goal. They also held a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.
NEWCOMERS MAKE PENN STATE DEBUT
Freshman forward Jeremy Rafanello made his Penn State debut Friday, starting on the frontline for the Nittany Lions, and definitley not holding back. The Delran, N.J. native came out in full force, scoring the first goal of the 2018 campaign for the Nittany Lions, and the first goal of his collegiate career, in the ninth minute to put the Blue and White up early. Rafanello had five total shots and two shots on goal in the match to lead the team offensively.
Defensively, Georgetown transfer Mason Deeds made his Penn State debut, helping hold down the Nittany Lions' backline for all 90 minutes.
FAMILIAR NAMES, FAMILIAR FACES
The Nittany Lions return 22 student-athletes from the 2017 roster, including nine starters. Sophomore forward Ethan Beckford returns as the leading goal scorer for the Blue and White with five goals and one assist (11 points) in his rookie campaign. Aaron Molloy (three goals), Mac Curran (two goals) and Callum Pritchatt and Christian Sload (one goal each) also return to the lineup.
On the backline, redshirt senior Dani Marks, senior Brennan Ireland and junior Mitchel Bringolf look to keep the opposition out of the box after helping the goalkeepers to two shutouts in 2017.
In the net, redshirt sophomore Josh Levine returns after having nine starts in the 2017 season. Levine earned Big Ten All-Tournament Team honors after recording a career-best 12 saves in the quarterfinal match up with No. 1 Indiana on Nov. 6, 2017. Junior Arie Ammann hopes to be back in the net for the Blue and White after missing 2017 with an injury. As a freshman, Ammann earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the week honors.
NEW FACES
Despite returning nearly the entire 2017 squad, head coach Jeff Cook added four new faces for the 2018 season, including two freshmen and two transfers.
In his first signing class as the leader of the Penn State men's soccer team, Cook signed forward Jeremy Rafanello and brought in commit Joshua Dabora. Prior to preseason, Cook announced the addition of transfers Mason Deeds (Georgetown) and Keegan Ness (Oregon State) to complete the 26-man roster.
AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE NITTANY LIONS
The 2018 roster features seven student-athletes who crossed oceans to be a part of the Penn State family. Mitchel Bringolf comes to Happy Valley from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, captain Dani Marks is from Israel, and Daniel Gonzalez came to Penn State from Costa Rica. The four other student-athletes join the Nittany Lions from the United Kingdom, including Ethan Beckford (Manchester, England), Mikey Conneh (Sheffield, Yorkshire, England), Aaron Molloy (Dublin, Ireland), and Callum Pritchatt (Kinghurst, Birmingham, England).
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Penn State men's soccer team will face four opponents in 2018 ranked within the top 25 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll, including No. 2 Indiana, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 12 Wisconsin, and No. 21 Michigan. The Nittany Lions will face both Michigan State and Wisconsin within the friendly confines of Jeffrey Field, but will have to travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. and Bloomington, Ind., in back-to-back conference road trips. The 2018 squad will also face two opponents receiving votes in the preseason poll, including UCF in the season opener and Maryland on Oct. 23.
THREE NITTANY LIONS LAND PRESEASON HONORS
Senior Brennan Ireland, junior Aaron Molloy and sophomore Ethan Beckford each earned Big Ten preseason honors as announced by the conference office.
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.
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.
Beckford returns to 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 (5 goals, 1 assist). 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.
MARKS, MOLLOY NAMED 2018 TEAM CAPTAINS
Redshirt senior Dani Marks and junior Aaron Molloy have been selected as team captains of the 2018 Penn State men's soccer team as announced by first-year head coach Jeff Cook.
The 2018 captaincy will be the third time Marks will lead the team in such capacity as he was also the team captain for the 2015 and 2017 seasons. It will be the first such honor for Molloy after joining the Nittany Lions in 2017.
Marks returns to University Park in 2018 for his final season with the Blue and White. The Ra'anana, Israel, native defender started 16 games for the Nittany Lions last season, logging 1,427 minutes on the pitch and anchoring the backline to two shutouts on the season. Marks also had one assist in 2017 and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors for the third consecutive season.
Molloy played and started in 16 games in his first season with the Blue and White. The Dublin, Ireland, native logged 1,396 minutes on the pitch and scored three goals in 2017, the second most on the team.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State hits the road for the first time in the 2018 campaign, traveling to Rhode Island on Friday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions are 6-1-0 all-time against the Rams, but have not faced them since the 1990 season.
