UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's soccer team heads to Ann Arbor, Mich. for the second time this season to start Big Ten Tournament play. The sixth-seeded Nittany Lions and No. 3 seed Michigan face off in the quarterfinals on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. at U-M Soccer Stadium.
FOLLOW ALONG
Sunday's match will be streamed live on BTN+. Viewers must have a login to watch. Fans can also follow along by following the team on Twitter, @PennStateMSOC.
PENN STATE IN THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
The Nittany Lions will make their 28th appearance in the Big Ten Men's Soccer Tournament. Penn State sports a 29-20-5 all-time mark. The 29 wins are the second-most in tournament history, just six behind Indiana. As a No. 6 seed in the tournament, the Nittany Lions are 2-1-1 all-time. They are 5-4-0 when playing the No. 3 seed. Penn State is 3-1-0 against Michigan in the tournament.
PENN STATE AGAINST MICHIGAN
The Nittany Lions and the Wolverines have met 23 times in program history. Penn State leads the series, 11-9-3, after a draw in regular season play.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
The Michigan Wolverines ended the regular season with a 10-4-2 overall record and a 4-2-2 record in conference play, earning them the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Junior Jack Hallahan paced all scorers with 21 total points, consisting of a team-high seven goals and seven assists. Sophomore Umar Farouk Osman also added seven goals and three assists himself for 17 points. In between the posts, sophomore goalkeeper Henry Mashburn played all 16 games for the Wolverines, only allowing 13 goals past him for a 0.78 goals against average. Mashburn and the Wolverine defense also recorded six clean sheets.
LAST TIME AGAINST MICHIGAN
In the regular season match-up on Sept. 21, Penn State and then-No. 21 ranked Michigan battled it out for 110 minutes, but ultimately ended the game in a 1-1 draw. Junior striker Christian Sload put the Nittany Lions on the board first with his first goal of the season in the third minute. Jeremy Rafanello just outside the top right corner of the box found Sload inside who juked a Michigan defender and slid the ball into the lower left corner of the net for the score.
Michigan's Jack Hallahan put two good shots on net in the first half, but goalkeeper Josh Levine was there both times for the save. The Wolverines turned things on in the second half and were able to find the equalizer in the 70th minute to force the game into overtime for the second consecutive season.
Junior captain Aaron Molloy took two promising shots in the overtime periods in hopes of finding the golden goal for the Nittany Lions, but was unable to convert, ending the game in a draw. The Wolverines outshot the Nittany Lions, 15-11, but a strong Penn State backline was able to keep Michigan out of the net. Levine finished with four saves in the match.
LAST TIME OUT
The Nittany Lions picked up a key conference victory in the regular season finale, shutting out Rutgers, 2-0, to secure the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
A back-and-forth game highlighted the first 15 minutes of the match before sophomore Callum Pritchatt's left-footed shot at the 15:06 mark bent just enough to squeeze between the goalkeeper and the left post for the score. The lefty shot from right outside the box marks the first goal of the season for Pritchatt and the second of his career.
The Scarlet Knights offense pushed the Nittany Lion defense for the remainder of the first half, taking five shots in those 30 minutes, including three on net, but goalkeeper Josh Levine was there for the saves.
After a couple of shots by both teams to open the second half, sophomore Ethan Beckford and senior Austin Maloney connected in the 64th minute to give the Nittany Lions the two-goal advantage. Beckford took the ball up the middle before passing it to Maloney right inside the box who then kicked it back out to Beckford for the strike and score. Beckford recorded his second goal of the season while Maloney added his first assist of the season.
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.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Penn State men's soccer team has three 2018 opponents ranked in the 10th week (Oct. 30) of the United Soccer Coaches' national poll, with three others receiving votes. Indiana (Sept. 30; L, 0-2) remains at No. 2. UCF (Aug. 24; L, 1-2 2OT) moved into the top-10 this week, coming in at No. 9. Michigan State (Sept. 26; L, 0-1) sits at No. 17. Rhode Island (Aug. 31; L, 0-1), Michigan (Sept. 21; T, 1-1 2OT), James Madison (Oct. 20; L, 0-1) all received votes in this week's poll.
SHUTOUT SUCCESS
After shutting out Northwestern on the road on Oct. 6, the Penn State men's soccer team returned to Jeffrey Field for three-straight home games, holding each opponent scoreless (Stony Brook - Oct. 9, Wisconsin - Oct. 14, Detroit Mercy - Oct. 17). The last time the Nittany Lions shutout four opponents in consecutive games was during the 2012 season. The Nittany Lions totaled six shutouts in the regular season, also shutting out Bowling Green on Aug. 28 for the first victory of the season and most recently Rutgers on Oct. 28.
NEXT TIME OUT
If the Nittany Lions win they will move on to the Big Ten Semifinals on Friday, Nov. 9 at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana.
