UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's soccer team, under fourth-year head coach Jeff Cook, begins postseason play in the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 7 when it hosts Michigan State at Jeffrey Field in the quarterfinals. Kickoff between the No. 1-seeded Nittany Lions and No. 8-seed Spartans is set for 4 p.m. and will broadcast live on Big Ten Network with Dan Kelly (pxp) and Patrick Doody (analyst) on the call.
GAME INFORMATION
- Date: Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021 | Time: 4 p.m. ET
- Location: University Park, Pa. | Venue: Jeffrey Field
- Live Stats: gopsusports.com | Watch: Big Ten Network
Parking Information
Parking for all Penn State Athletics' non-football events will require a valid permit or payment of the applicable parking fee for campus lots. Fans with valid Penn State University Park parking permits will be permitted to park at non-football athletics events for free, following Transportation Services parking policies and access.
For men's soccer matches, fans are asked to park in the Jordan East, Stadium West or Porter North lots. Fans without a permit are encouraged to prepay for event parking at a discounted rate of $5.50 through ParkMobile - https://psu.parkmobile.io/. Prepayment is available through 11:59 p.m. the day prior to each event. Event day parking will be $10 per vehicle and is cash only/can be purchased on the ParkMobile app. The East Deck is also available for most events for $1 per hour.
Parking for all non-football athletics events is managed by Penn State Transportation Services. For more information or questions, visit transportation.psu.edu or email parking@psu.edu.
PENN STATE IN THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
- Penn State is 32-22-6 (.583) all-time in the Big Ten Tournament since it started in 1991.
- After winning the Big Ten regular season title, the Nittany Lions received the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament for the first time since 2013 after spending the previous two seasons as the No. 2 seed.
- Penn State is 2-1-1 all-time as a one-seed and has never faced the eight-seed (0-0-0).
- The Nittany Lions are 7-4-1 against the Spartans in tournament play.
LAST TIME OUT
- Penn State earned the outright Big Ten regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament with a 2-0 shutout win over Wisconsin Sunday in the regular-season finale at a windy McClimon Track/Soccer Complex in Madison.
- After getting Wisconsin to turn the ball over, running up the right side, senior Danny Bloyou played a perfect ball to classmate Seth Kuhn at the top of the 18 as Kuhn took a great strike with his left foot to find the top-left corner of the goal to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead 18 minutes in.
- The Nittany Lions would eventually head to the break with a one-goal advantage and a shot advantage of 5-3.
- Just like the first half, the wind definitely played a factor as a lot of the game was back-and-forth as it was hard to hold onto possession and therefore with very few looks on frame by either team.
- In the 80th minute, junior Liam Butts nearly scored an insurance goal at the far post but he couldn't quite square up on the ball and missed to the right.
- About two minutes later, Kuhn would find that insurance goal for Penn State as his long shot from the sideline on a pass by junior Andrew Privett had incredible bend to just get over the outstretched fingers of Wisconsin's keeper and into the back of the net to make it 2-0.
- The backline held strong through the entire game to keep junior goalkeeper Kris Shakes from having to make a save for the fifth shutout of the season and third in conference play.
BIG TEN REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
- For the first time since 2013 and for the sixth time in program history, Penn State won the Big Ten regular season crown, finishing with a 6-2-0 record in conference play to total 18 points.
- The Nittany Lions had finished runner-up in the league the previous two seasons with a 6-1-1 Big Ten record and were picked to finish second again this season behind Indiana in the coaches' preseason poll.
COACH OF THE YEAR
- Head coach Jeff Cook was named the unanimous 2021 Big Ten Coach of the Year as announced with the rest of the Big Ten Men's Soccer conference awards on Friday.
- Cook earned the program's fourth overall Coach of the Year award and the first since former head coach Bob Warming went back-to-back in 2012-13.
- In his fourth season at the helm, Cook has brought the Penn State men's soccer program back into the national spotlight with two consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament (2019, 2020-21) as well as winning this season's conference regular season title.
- He holds a 37-21-8 overall record in Happy Valley and an impressive 21-7-4 (.719) record in Big Ten play.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
- Sophomore Peter Mangione was named the 2021 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year as announced by the conference office Friday.
- His Offensive Player of the Year award is the second Big Ten Player of the Year award under head coach Jeff Cook's tutelage, joining Aaron Molloy's Midfielder of the Year nod in 2019.
- Mangione is the program's first Offensive Player of the Year since Connor Maloney in 2014.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
- Michigan State is led by 13-year head coach Damon Rensing and finished the regular season with a 6-8-2 overall record and 2-4-2 record in Big Ten play to earn the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament. The Spartans concluded the regular season with back-to-back 3-1 losses against then-No. 7 Maryland (10/22) and at Northwestern (10/31).
- Farai Mutatu paces the Spartans with 17 points on a team-high seven goals and three assists. Jack Beck leads the team with seven assists to tie with Penn State's Seth Kuhn for the Big Ten category lead. In all, 13 different Michigan State players have recorded at least one point his season.
- In net, redshirt senior Hunter Morse has played a majority of the team with 10 starts and 11 games played. He holds a 1.33 goals-against average and 0.731 save percentage with 38 saves and one shutout.
PENN STATE AGAINST MICHIGAN STATE
- Penn State has a 24-17-2 all-time series advantage over Michigan State, including a 1-0 win in East Lansing during the regular season (10/1).
- The Nittany Lions and the Spartans last faced off in the Big Ten Tournament in 2016 in the quarterfinals in which Michigan State won in East Lansing, 2-1.
NEXT TIME OUT
The winner of Penn State/Michigan State will go on to face the winner of Michigan/Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 10. The match will be played on the campus of the higher remaining seed with kickoff starting at either noon or 2 p.m. based on the Big Ten Network TV schedule.