UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Nittany Lions are red hot. In the last couple of weeks, the Penn State men's soccer team has won two trophies and earned a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 12 overall seed. Currently, the team is on a five-game winning streak entering Sunday's second round matchup at 5 p.m. against Hofstra at Jeffrey Field.
"One aspect (of our success) has been a consistency in our lineup, another aspect has been that we've been more solid defensively," head coach Jeff Cook said. "I also think we've gotten into a good pattern or rhythm with using some players off the bench who come in and add to the game. Sometimes substitutes can be misinterpreted as 'well you just go in for that player and give that person a rest,' but really for us it's been I think what's driven the team forward."
Of the past five games, four of them have ended in shutouts. This means it has been 419 minutes since a goal has been scored on a Nittany Lion goalkeeper Kris Shakes. The defense has stepped up this year to allow this to happen.
"I think one thing is our organization without the ball and our patience to accept you can't have the ball the whole time and to defend well in those moments has been very important for our recent defensive Improvement," Cook said. "If you stay in shape and you stick to your game plan you can minimize the quality of the scoring chance the offense is able to create and I think we've done that better in the last two to three weeks of the season."
The success of the last couple of weeks has allowed Cook to channel this excitement into preparation for the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm really immensely proud of the group, their resilience, and the way they've improved and what I always think about this time of year is how eager I am to keep it going," Cook said. "It's a great group to work with, the camaraderie that develops when you go through all the experiences we have had and to lift the trophies we have lifted so far is really memorable, but now we're focusing on trying to lift the third one."
The third trophy the Nittany Lions are attempting to lift is the NCAA Championship. The tournament will present Penn State with a different kind of pressure, like some unfamiliarity with teams, but this does not stop them from staying true to themselves.
"We are Penn State and we're going to work hard to scout Hofstra. They've got good players and are really well-coached but we're not going to change for anybody," Cook said. "We didn't do that for the regular season, and we didn't do that during the Big Ten Tournament so we're not going to change who we are"
Overall, the Penn State men's soccer team is excited to get back on the field this weekend.
"We're very excited about the game Sunday. The NCAA Tournament is very competitive, very unpredictable," Cook said. "We're looking forward to facing Hofstra and another chance to play here at Jeffrey Field, hopefully in front of a great crowd (this) afternoon, so a lot of work to do, but really excited for the challenge."
