UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's soccer team (7-2-2, 3-1-1 Big Ten) returns to Big Ten action on the road when it travels to Madison, Wisc. to face the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. ET.
GAME INFORMATION
- Date: Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019 | Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Location: Madison, Wisc. | Venue: McClimon Track/Soccer Complex
- Live Stats: uwbadgers.com | Watch: BTN Plus ($)
PENN STATE AGAINST WISCONSIN
- Penn State leads the overall series with Wisconsin, 18-12-3, as the teams meet for the 34th time in program history Saturday.
- Last season the Nittany Lions downed the Badgers, 1-0, at home at Jeffrey Field.
- The Badgers won on their home pitch in 2017, 1-0.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
- The Wisconsin Badgers are 2-9-2 overall and 0-3-1 in Big Ten play heading into Saturday.
- Matthew Comiskey paces the Badgers with two goals while Inaki Iribarren adds a goal and an assist for three points.
- In net, Dean Cowdroy has played all but one game, totaling 1103:15 minutes. He holds a 1.47 goals against average and a .723 save percentage.
LAST TIME OUT
- Penn State scored three-plus goals for the fourth time this season when it took down in-state rival Pittsburgh, 3-1, Tuesday evening at Jeffrey Field.
- Pitt got the game going early with seven shots within the first 35 minutes of action, forcing freshman goalkeeper Kris Shakes to make four saves.
- In the 37th minute, junior Callum Pritchatt was tripped up in the box, drawing a penalty to give the Nittany Lions a chance on the penalty kick. Senior captain Aaron Molloy stepped up and put the PK right past Pitt's goalkeeper to give Penn State the 1-0 advantage headed into the break.
- The Nittany Lions took no time to increase their lead immediately out of halftime, scoring two goals within two and a half minutes.
- The first came courtesy of freshman Liam Butts as he went near-post off the back-heel pass from Molloy.
- Penn State's third goal was from freshman defender Jalen Watson after both Adam Laundree and Pierre Reedy's headers got past the Pitt backline and Watson was unmarked to get it to the back of the net.
- The Panthers continued to press the Penn State defense, forcing Shakes to make six more saves in the second half.
- Pitt managed to come through with a goal in the 84th minute.
TOP-10 RPI
- The first NCAA RPI ranking of the 2019 season was released Monday as Penn State checked in at No. 10.
- The Nittany Lions are the second-highest ranked Big Ten team, after No. 9 Indiana.
PK PERFECTION
- Penn State has drawn three penalties in the box this season.
- Senior captain Aaron Molloy has taken all three penalty kick attempts for the Nittany Lions and converted on all three.
- Molloy is one of 13 NCAA D1 men's soccer players to be at least 3-for-3 on PKs this season.
THREE'S (GOALS) NOT A CROWD
- Penn State has scored three or more goals four times this season, the most since the 2012 season.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- Liam Butts was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after a multi-goal game against Northwestern, including the game-winner in overtime.
- Butts earns his first career conference weekly award and is the first Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for the Nittany Lions since Ethan Beckford in 2017.
NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTTS ABOUT IT
- Freshman forward Liam Butts has a tied team-high 12 points on six goals through the first 11 games in his rookie season.
- Butts has two multi-goal games and four game-winning goals, good for first in the conference and seventh nationally.
- His six total goals is tied for the category lead in the conference with Michigan's Nebojsa Popovic and Pablo Avila.
WELL-ROUNDED OFFENSE
- 15 different Nittany Lions have recorded points in the 2019 season, including 10 different goal scorers.
- Penn State has scored 21 goals through 11 games, the most since the 2016 season (22).
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State holds another three-game home stand at Jeffrey Field to close out the regular season at home. First up, No. 18 James Madison comes to town on Tuesday, Oct. 22 for a 7 p.m. kick.