UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's soccer team hosts one final nonconference game this season, welcoming Detroit Mercy to Jeffrey Field on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
Wednesday's match will be streamed live via BTN+. Viewers must have a login to watch. Fans can also follow along live by following the team on Twitter, @PennStateMSOC.
PENN STATE AGAINST DETROIT MERCY
The Nittany Lions and the Titans will meet for just the second time in program history. The first meeting was last season at Jeffrey Field in which Penn State won, 2-0.
SCOUTING DETROIT MERCY
The Detroit Mercy Titans come to Happy Valley with a 1-11-2 overall record and a 0-5-1 record in the Horizon League.
Redshirt freshman Ben Al-Gharabally paces the Titans with two goals so far this season. Nine other players have each scored once while eight players have recorded assists. Freshman goalkeeper Evan Mazurek and redshirt freshman goalkeeper Devin Mendez have split time in the net with Mendez seeing the most action. Mendez has 37 saves and a 2.57 goals against average while Mazurek has 13 saves and a 1.73 goals against average and one shutout.
LAST SEASON AGAINST DETROIT MERCY
The Nittany Lions shut out the Titans, 2-0, in the 2017 season in the first meeting of the two teams. Mitchel Bringolf notched his first career points donning the Blue and White as he scored the game-winner in the second half while Mac Curran added the other goal. As a team, Penn State outshot Detroit Mercy, 14-10, putting eight shots on goal compared to the Titan's three.
LAST TIME OUT
The Penn State men's soccer team downed Wisconsin, 1-0, on Sunday, Oct. 14 at Jeffrey Field. The first half marked a very even game, with back-and-forth play resulting in three total shots for both teams. The Nittany Lions were able to take more control of possession in the second half, with four of their six shots landing on net, including the goal for the 1-0 lead in the 80th minute.
After earning a corner kick, junior Aaron Molloy sent one into the box hoping to find someone in Blue and White. The ball was kicked around a bit before redshirt senior Dani Marks kicked it out to sophomore Callum Pritchatt right outside the goal box who then found freshman Jeremy Rafanello for the score.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Josh Levine had one save in the match on the Badgers' long shot-on-net in the second half. The Nittany Lions ended Wisconsin's five-game winning streak with the victory.
BACK-TO-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 (Oct. 9) and Wisconsin (Oct. 14) scoreless. The last time the Nittany Lions shutout three opponents in consecutive games was during the 2014 season when they did it on three separate occurrences.
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.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO GRAND PARK
The Big Ten men's and women's soccer tournament semifinal and championship games will return to Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. for the 2018 season, as announced by the conference on Sept. 27.
The men's tournament will start with quarterfinal games being played on campus Nov. 3-4. Play will commence at Grand Park on Friday, Nov. 9 with two semifinals and will conclude on Sunday, Nov. 11 with the championship game.
Kickoff times and television coverage for all Big Ten men's and women's soccer tournament games will be announced at a later date.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State men's soccer hits the road for the final two road games of the regular season. First the Nittany Lions will travel to Harrisonburg, Va. to face James Madison on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. Penn State will then play at Maryland on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. in its Big Ten Network debut.
