ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Penn State men’s soccer team has been selected to finish second in the Big Ten Preseason Poll, the conference announced Wednesday afternoon. In addition to the team honor sophomore defender Mohamed Cisset, sophomore midfielder Caden Grabfelder and junior defender Matthew Henderson were tabbed as Big Ten Players to Watch.
The Nittany Lions were picked to finish behind reigning Big Ten Tournament Champions, Indiana. Big Ten men’s soccer newcomers in UCLA and Washington sit third and fourth, respectively. Michigan State rounds out the poll’s top-five.
Penn State enters the 2024 season following a 10-4-5 record and the program’s fifth Big Ten Regular Season title. The team welcomes 12 newcomers with seven transfers and five freshmen. They also return 14 letterwinners from last season to complete the 27 man-roster.
Larkhall, Scotland native, Henderson had a standout sophomore season as a member of a Nittany Lion backline that contributed to seven shutouts and held opponents to .79 goals per match. Henderson will also serve as a co-captain alongside redshirt-junior Ben Liscum as voted by their teammates and coaching staff.
Montreal, Canada native, Cisset returns after an eventful offseason. The defender was called up to the Malian U23 team and made the 2024 Mali Olympic roster. At the conclusion of the 2023 season, Cisset was landed as No. 74 on Top Drawer Soccer’s Post Season Top 100 Freshmen.
An All-Big Ten Freshmen Team member in Grabfelder returns for his second season in the Blue and White. The Northampton, Pennsylvania, native had a dominant rookie season as the top returning point scorer on the 2024 roster with three goals and three assists. Grabfelder was ranked No. 14 on Top Drawer Soccer’s Post Season Top 100 Freshmen.
Head coach Jeff Cook is back for his seventh season at the helm of the program with assistant coaches Clint Long, Sean Lawlor and Oscar Umar. The Nittany Lions will kick off their season against reigning National Champions No. 1 Clemson in South Carolina on Thursday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. (ET). The match will be televised on the ACC Network.