UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's soccer team (11-2-3, 6-1-1 Big Ten) starts the 2019 postseason in the Big Ten Tournament, playing host to the Wisconsin Badgers in a quarterfinal game at Jeffrey Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10 with free admission and free parking for all fans.
GAME INFORMATION
- Date: Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019 | Time: 1 p.m. ET
- Location: University Park, Pa. | Venue: Jeffrey Field
- Live Stats: GoPSUsports.com | Watch: BTN Plus ($)
- Admission & Parking: FREE
PENN STATE IN THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
- Penn State is 29-21-5 (.573) all-time in the Big Ten Tournament since it started in 1991.
- The Nittany Lions are a No. 2 seed in the tournament for the first time since the 2009 season when they went on to the title game before eventually falling.
- Penn State is 5-5-0 all-time as a two-seed but a perfect 3-0-0 against a No. 7-seed. The Nittany Lions are also a perfect 5-0-0 against Wisconsin in the conference tournament.
PENN STATE AGAINST WISCONSIN
- Penn State leads Wisconsin in the all-time series history, 19-12-3.
- The teams will meet for the second time in 2019. The Nittany Lions bested the Badgers, 2-1, during the regular season in Madison, Wisc.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
- Since facing Penn State on Oct. 19, Wisconsin is unbeaten in the last four games, going 1-0-3 in the final stretch of the regular season.
- The Badgers completed the regular season with a 3-10-4 overall record and 1-4-3 record in conference play to earn the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
- Inaki Iribarren and Matthew Comiskey still pace the Badgers with five points each on two goals and an assist.
- In net, Dean Cowdroy holds a .731 save percentage with a 1.29 goals against average.
LAST TIME OUT
- Penn State escaped Rutgers with a 2-1 overtime victory in the regular-season finale thanks to Christian Sload's game-winning goal in the 93rd minute Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field.
- The Nittany Lions held the 10-8 advantage in shots after the first half but both teams went to the break with goose eggs on the scoreboard.
- In the 84th minute, Rutgers scored to go up one with six minutes to play.
- Freshman Liam Butts said not so fast, however, scoring 59 seconds later after Sload passed the ball into the six and Butts fended off multiple Scarlet Knights defenders to tie the game at one with five minutes left in regulation.
- Sload headed in the golden goal barely three minutes into overtime off a corner kick from sophomore Seth Kuhn, his second-straight overtime game-winning goal.
B1G SUCCESS
- The Nittany Lions won six Big Ten games in 2019, the most in conference play since the 2005 season.
UNDEFEATED ON THE ROAD
- Penn State went undefeated (6-0-1) on the road in 2019 after not winning a single road game just a year ago.
- The Nittany Lions went undefeated in true road games for the first time since the 1995 season (one neutral site loss that season).
STAY GOLDEN SLOAD
- In back-to-back games, senior Christian Sload netted golden goals in overtime for the Nittany Lions against then-No. 17 Maryland and at Rutgers.
- The two game-winners earned Sload Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors plus Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Week nods.
SIX NITTANY LIONS RECOGNIZED WITH ALL-BIG TEN SEASON AWARDS
- Six Penn State men's soccer student-athletes were honored by the Big Ten with season awards as announced by the conference office Friday.
- The selections were highlighted by senior Aaron Molloy's Midfielder of the Year award, the first Big Ten Player of the Year award for a Penn State men's soccer student-athlete since 2014.
- In addition to his Midfielder of the Year nod, Molloy was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team along with freshman Liam Butts and redshirt junior Brandon Hackenberg.
- Butts and classmates Jalen Watson and Kris Shakes earned spots on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team while graduate transfer Will Campbell is Penn State's Sportsmanship Award honoree.
- The three first-team honorees are the most for Penn State since having three in 2013 while the three All-Freshman team members are the most since 2008.
TOP-10 RPI
- The fourth and most recent NCAA RPI ranking of the 2019 season has Penn State ranked No. 9, the highest-ranking team in the Big Ten.
- Five other 2019 opponents rank in the top 25.
- See the full RPI rankings here.
SHAKE YOUR GROOVE THING
- Freshman goalkeeper Kris Shakes has split time in net with veteran Josh Levine, playing a total of 731:43 minutes with a 0.74 goals against average and .850 save percentage.
- Shakes is slightly off the NCAA-required 50 percent minutes play requirement to count for national statistical rankings, but if he wasn't he'd be No. 19 in GAA and No. 4 in save percentage.
- He does, however, hold the top spot in both statistical categories in the Big Ten.
- He is a perfect 8-0-0 for the Nittany Lions.
DOUBLE-DIGIT RECORD
- Penn State finished the regular season with a 11-2-3 record, marking the first double-digit record since 2014 (13-6-1), also the last time the Nittany Lions made it to the NCAA Tournament.
NEXT TIME OUT
The winner of this quarterfinal will play the winner of Michigan-Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at Ludwig Field in College Park, Md.