No. 12 Penn State Set to Face No. 7 Georgetown in Sweet SixteenNo. 12 Penn State Set to Face No. 7 Georgetown in Sweet Sixteen
Missy Minear/Indiana Athletics

No. 12 Penn State Set to Face No. 7 Georgetown in Sweet Sixteen

Opens in a new window Game Notes Opens in a new window NCAA Digital Program

CARY, N.C. – The Penn State men's soccer team continues play in the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament in the Sweet Sixteen against seventh-ranked and the No. 8 overall seed Georgetown on Thursday, May 6 at noon at WakeMed Field in Cary, N.C. The game will be streamed live on GoHeels.com.

GAME INFORMATION

  • Date: Thursday, May 6, 2021 | Time: Noon ET
  • Postseason: NCAA Tournament | Round: Sweet Sixteen
  • Location: Cary, N.C. | Venue: WakeMed Field #2
  • Live Stats: ncaa.com | Watch: GoHeels.com

PENN STATE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

  • Penn State is making its 34th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and second-straight appearance for the first time since the 2013-14 seasons.
  • The Nittany Lions are 29-32-1 all-time in the national tournament after winning their second round match against UMass, 4-1, on Sunday to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2013.
  • With a win or advancement Thursday, Penn State would go to its first Elite Eight since 2002.
  • Penn State is one of two Big Ten teams remaining in the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament. No. 3-seed Indiana advanced on PKs.

PENN STATE AGAINST GEORGETOWN

  • Penn State and Georgetown face off Thursday for the fourth time in program history and the first time in the NCAA Tournament.
  • The series is tied, 1-1-1, with the Hoyas taking the most recent game on their home field back in 2012 by a score of 2-1.

SCOUTING GEORGETOWN

  • The defending national champion Georgetown Hoyas are led by 15th-year head coach Brian Wiese. They come in to the Sweet Sixteen with a 9-1-2 overall record after defeating High Point, 2-0, in the second round. Georgetown earned the No. 8 overall seed for the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament and is ranked seventh in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
  • Sophomore Dante Polvara is pacing the Hoyas with 16 points on a team-high seven goals and two assists. Polvara was named the Big East Midfielder of the Year while also earning first-team accolades. He has also recently been named as a Semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy.
  • Senior Rio Hope-Gund was named the Big East Defender of the Year, but has since signed a professional contract with Orlando City SC after being drafted 19th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft, the same team who drafted Penn State defender Brandon Hackenberg.
  • In net, junior goalkeeper Giannis Nikopolidis has played 10 games for the Hoyas with shutouts in six of those games. He holds just a 0.45 goals-against average and a .846 save percentage. Nikopolidis was named the Big East Goalkeeper of the Year.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Penn State extended its unbeaten streak to nine games, the eighth-best streak in the country, with a 4-1 win over UMass in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
  • Sophomore Alex Stevenson, junior Seth Kuhn and freshman Tyger Evans were all the goal scorers in the contest while freshman Peter Mangione assisted on each of those goals. The first goal was by a UMass own goal.
  • Sophomore goalkeeper Kris Shakes and the backline stood strong after an onslaught of shots by UMass in the second half as Shakes finished with a season-high seven saves.

COACHING CONNECTIONS

  • Penn State head coach Jeff Cook and Georgetown head coach Brian Wiese go way back, while Wiese also has a connection to Penn State associate head coach Greg Dalby.
  • Wiese was a goalkeeper at Dartmouth in Cook's first season as an assistant in 1994.
  • Wiese was then an assistant coach at Notre Dame when Dalby was a star midfielder for the Irish.

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER

  • Penn State has scored four goals three times this season, the most games with four-plus goals since doing so five times in the 2010 season.
  • The Nittany Lions have the 14th-best scoring offense in the country and are tied for first in the conference with 2.17 goals per game.

HE'S THE MAN-GIONE

  • Freshman midfielder/forward Peter Mangione has had quite the first year as a collegiate soccer player.
  • The Hunt Valley, Md., native has five goals this season, including four game-winners. He also has a team-high six assists for 16 total points.
  • Mangione's three assists against UMass in the second round of the NCAA Tournament is the most assists in a game by a player since Connor Maloney had three against Ohio State in 2016.
  • Mangione is leading all of Division I men's soccer with an 80 percent shot accuracy with his team-high 16 shots on goal. He is also tied first in the conference and third in the nation with his four game-winning goals.

NEXT TIME OUT
The winner of the Penn State/Georgetown Sweet Sixteen match will face the winner of the Marshall/No. 1-seed Clemson match in the quarterfinals on Monday, May 10. The game will be played at 1 p.m. at WakeMed Field in Cary, N.C.