UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's soccer team remains within the friendly confines of Jeffrey Field over the weekend, playing host to Big Ten foe Wisconsin on Sunday, Oct. 14 at noon.
FOLLOW ALONG
Sunday's match will be streamed live for free on LionVision. Fans can also follow along by following the team on Twitter, @PennStateMSOC.
PENN STATE AGAINST WISCONSIN
The Nittany Lions and the Badgers have met 32 times throughout the regular season and conference tournament. Penn State leads the series, 17-12-3.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
The Wisconsin Badgers come to Happy Valley with a 6-4-2 overall record and a 3-1-0 record in Big Ten conference play. The Badgers are receiving votes in the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll (Oct. 9).
Freshman Andrew Akindele leads the Badgers in total points (9), goals (3) and assists (3). Fellow freshman Noah Melick adds another two goals and one assist for the Badgers while redshirt senior Isaac Schlenker also has two goals. In the net, junior Dean Cowdroy has played all 12 games, recording 41 saves with a 1.01 goals against average. Cowdroy and the Badger defense have recorded five clean sheets this season.
LAST TIME OUT
The Penn State men's soccer team posted their second consecutive shutout in the 3-0 victory over Stony Brook Tuesday evening at Jeffrey Field. Redshirt sophomore Daniel Gonzalez made his first career start for the Nittany Lions, recording five points with two goals and one assist.
Gonzalez's first goal of the game came just 50 seconds in. Mitchel Bringolf passed the ball from the top of the box to Christian Sload at the right-hand side of the box who found Gonzalez right in front of the net for the early 1-0 lead.
Senior Mac Curran went to work in the next 26 minutes, firing off three good looks at the net before the fourth one found the back to give the Nittany Lions a two goal advantage. This time it was Gonzalez with the assist to Curran for his first career assist and Curran's second goal of the season.
Travis Keil passed a ball through to Gonzalez in the 55th minute who was able to take advantage of a defensive error by the Seawolves and bounce one past their goalkeeper for the 3-0 lead.
Goalkeeper Arie Ammann made his first start of the season in between the posts, holding down the defense for the third shutout of the season. The junior made one save off the Seawolves' lone shot on net in the second half.
GONZALEZ SCORES TWICE, RECORDS FIVE POINTS
Redshirt sophomore Daniel Gonzalez made his first career start against Stony Brook on Tuesday, Oct. 9, recording five points in the Nittany Lions' 3-0 victory. Gonzalez scored twice and added an assist for those five points, marking the first time this season a Penn State player has scored multiple goals in a single match, and the first time since Ethan Beckford did it at Rutgers last season (10/22/17).
BACK-TO-BACK SHUTOUTS
After shutting out Northwestern on the road on Oct. 6, the Penn State men's soccer team returned to Jeffrey Field and held Stony Brook scoreless. The last time the Nittany Lions shutout two opponents in back-to-back games was during the 2016 season, with 1-0 victories over Pittsburgh (10/11/16) and Michigan State (10/15/16).
LEVINE EARNS B1G CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Josh Levine was named Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the conference on Oct. 9. Levine played all 110 minutes in the net en route to the Nittany Lions 0-0 double-overtime draw at Northwestern on Oct. 6. The Rockville Centre, N.Y., native recorded seven saves on 17 Wildcat shots, his second-most saves in a game this season. Not allowing a ball through, Levine posted his second clean sheet of the season and the second of his career. The honor marks the first Big Ten weekly award of Levine's career and the second of the season for Penn State men's soccer as redshirt senior Ryan Gallagher was named Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 25.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Penn State men's soccer team has four 2018 opponents ranked in the seventh week (Oct. 9) of the United Soccer Coaches' national poll, with three more receiving votes. Indians (Sept. 30; L, 0-2) remains in the top-5 at No. 4. Michigan State (Sept. 26; L, 0-1) and Michigan (Sept. 21; T, 1-1 2OT) check in at No. 8 and 16, respectively. UCF (Aug. 24; L, 1-2 2OT) earns the No. 19 spot after receiving votes the previous week. JMU (Oct. 20), Rhode Island (Aug. 31; L, 0-1), and Sunday's opponent, Wisconsin, all received votes in this week's poll.
PENN STATE FEATURED ON BIG TEN NETWORK
The Penn State men's soccer team will be featured on the Big Ten Network when it travels to Maryland on Tuesday, Oct. 23 for its 6 p.m. contest. Last season, the Nittany Lions fell to the then-No. 3 Terrapins, 0-2.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State men's soccer will host one final nonconference game of the season at Jeffrey Field on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. against Detroit Mercy.
