No. 14 Penn State Dominates Michigan to Advance to Big Ten Tournament ChampionshipNo. 14 Penn State Dominates Michigan to Advance to Big Ten Tournament Championship
Mark Selders/Penn State Athletic

No. 14 Penn State Dominates Michigan to Advance to Big Ten Tournament Championship

Opens in a new window Box Score Opens in a new window Head Coach Jeff Cook Postgame Press Conference Opens in a new window Pierre Reedy Postgame Press Conference
Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 14th-ranked Penn State men's soccer team (8-1-1, 6-1-1 Big Ten) dominated Michigan (6-4-1, 5-3-1 Big Ten) in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinal game for a convincing 4-1 win Wednesday evening at Jeffrey Field to advance to the conference championship for the first time since 2011.

"I'm really proud of our team today – fantastic win," said head coach Jeff Cook. "I think at the end of the day we deserved it because of our threat offensively. It was a really challenging game, and I think with a 4-1 scoreline you can have a misimpression that it was easy, but it was far from that, Michigan gave us a great test. We had to play the full match to come out with an important win. I'm just so excited to have a chance to play for the Big Ten Tournament Championship on Saturday, wherever that game is."

The Nittany Lions got on the scoreboard early in the seventh minute with a picture-perfect tactical goal by junior transfer Danny Bloyou, his seventh of the season. Redshirt senior Pierre Reedy passed the ball into the box to sophomore Alex Stevenson who immediately flicked it out to Bloyou who sent it to the back post for the early 1-0 lead.


Michigan took three shots off target in the next 10 or so minutes in hopes of finding the equalizer, but the Penn State defense stood strong.

Freshman Peter Mangione then drew a foul in the box in the 18th minute to earn a penalty kick. Mangione took it from the slot and converted to put the Nittany Lions up two.


The Wolverines were able to get a goal back in the 29th minute in a weird sequence off a corner kick to make it 2-1 with about 15 to play in the first half.

That score would stand going in to the break, but Michigan paced the game in shots, 8-3, and corner kicks, 4-2, to put a lot of pressure on the defense.

The second half started with two shots by Michigan, before Penn State took the next four shots.

In the 63rd minute, Mangione took the ball away from the Michigan defense in Penn State's offensive zone and sent the ball to Reedy in the 18. Reedy's shot to the near post went right in between the post and the Michigan goalkeeper to put Penn State back up by two goals.


Sophomore Liam Butts sealed the game for Penn State in the 88th minute with his first goal of the season. Junior Seth Kuhn took the initial shot after the pass from Butts after the breakaway, but his shot was saved and Butts cleaned up the rebound for the 4-1 winning scoreline for the home team.


Sophomore goalkeeper Kris Shakes made two saves in the match and moves to 7-0-1 in net this season.

UP NEXT
Penn State will face No. 1 seed Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament Championship on Saturday, April 17 at 5 p.m., live on Big Ten Network. The game will be played in Bloomington, Ind. on the campus of Indiana as the highest remaining seed.

GAME NOTES

  • Penn State advances to its first Big Ten Tournament Championship game since 2011.
  • The Nittany Lions beat the Wolverines for the first time since 2014.
  • The Penn State offense tied its season-high four goals, last done against Rutgers on March 15 during the regular season.
  • The four goals in the game is the most goals scored in a Big Ten Tournament game since 1992 (five goals against Indiana in the quarterfinals).
  • Six players recorded points in the outing, as all four goals were scored by different players (Bloyou, Mangione, Reedy, Butts) and two other players had assists (Kuhn, Stevenson). Reedy and Mangione also had assists for three-point games each.
  • Freshman Peter Mangione's PK goal ended up being the game winner, his Big Ten-leading fourth game-winning goal of the season.