UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - It's been eight years since the Penn State men's soccer program last brought home a conference trophy. All this changed last Sunday when the Nittany Lions beat the Wisconsin Badgers with a 2-0 shutout to win the Big Ten regular season championship. Players like redshirt senior midfielder Pierre Reedy has been waiting for this moment.
"It's a dream come true to me," said Reedy. "I have been here for six years and it was the first time we were able to bring it home. I'm just so happy."
Reedy isn't the only one happy about being champions. Head coach Jeff Cook is proud of what the team accomplished.
"I would like to say how proud I am of our players for finishing the season in such a strong fashion," said Cook. "Rallying to win the last two regular-season games, which culminated us to win the Big Ten regular season championship was a great accomplishment."
Leading up to this great accomplishment, Park Avenue Army, the supporter group of Penn State men's soccer, has stuck with the team through its ups and downs. They were even there to help celebrate the championship with the team despite the championship win coming on the road.
"We pulled into Rec Hall at about 11:45 p.m. on Sunday night and I looked out the window and there were about 50 or 60 of the Park Avenue Army to greet the bus and that was really special," said Cook.
But all celebrations must come to an end. Now, it is time for the Nittany Lions to get back on track for Sunday's game against No. 8-seed Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
"The reality is the game ends and you celebrate, and then it's 'okay let's get ready for the next one,'" said Cook. "We're really proud of what has happened so far, but we also realize there is a lot of work to do to get ready for a strong Michigan State team."
To get ready for the Michigan State game, the championship team is channeling their win into mental momentum to prepare for practice and the postseason.
"We've got to stay hungry and keep building on the last couple performances," Reedy said. "We have started to play really good; I thought the last couple games, it's really just continuing off that and going out to practice and focus on getting better each day"
In practice, Cook is also using this win as momentum to narrow down and focus on details.
"We are really focusing on what makes a difference in winning games, so winning tackles, earning shutouts, preventing goal scoring, being smart with our passing decisions," said Cook. "It's really kind of zeroing in and focusing on what drives results in winning and doubling down to be effective in those areas."
As the Big Ten Tournament kicks off on Sunday, Reedy reminds his team that at the end of the day they should just enjoy every moment of what is left.
"I tell them a lot to just enjoy it because I have been here for a while and it goes by fast, and just to enjoy every part of the process and each game because you never know when it's your last," Reedy noted. "So, the fact that we get an opportunity on Sunday to play the game that we love with 28 of our best friends is something that they shouldn't take for granted."
Kickoff in the quarterfinals between the Nittany Lions and the Spartans from Jeffrey Field is at 4:00 p.m. and will broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
