Beating the Badgers in Big Ten Opener
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Beating the Badgers in Big Ten Opener

On Sunday afternoon, the Penn State men’s soccer team took on the Wisconsin Badgers at Jeffrey Field in their first Big Ten matchup of the season. Entering the game, Penn State had a season record of 5-2-1. Starters for the evening included Robinson, Howard, Seiler, Falk, Maloney, Warming, Campbell, Klerks, Wadid, Griffith and Wolverton in goal.

The Nittany Lions demonstrated early control of the game as evidenced by their goal in the 10th minute. Senior Grant Warming (#8) executed a corner kick that was blocked by Wisconsin, but Mike Robinson (#13) responded with a flick that allowed Martin Seiler (#22) to head the ball in the net. Although Penn State was ahead 1-0, the Wisconsin Badgers fought back to attain a goal of their own in the 31st minute. Indeed, Nick Janus, with no assist, was able to get one by Wolverton with less than 15 minutes left in the half. The 1-1 tie at half emphasized the even play coming from both sides.

Photo courtesy of gopsusports.com Photo courtesy of gopsusports.com


Moving into the second half, Penn State was eager to pull ahead. Equally motivated however, was the Wisconsin offense who kept drilling shots, only to find that they were too high for the net. In the 75th minute, Penn State keeper Andrew Wolverton made an outstanding save in response to a Wisconsin wide-open shot taken from just 12 yards out. Shortly after, a connection from Penn State sophomore Shane Campbell (#11) to Jordan Tyler (#23) resulted in an own-goal from Wisconsin, putting the Lions ahead 2-1. Less than 8 minutes left in the half, Penn State’s Eli Dennis (#4) scored his second goal of the season, off a beautiful cross from Randy Falk who overlapped Connor Maloney to create the opportunity. Penn State finished the game with a 3-1 victory, the team’s first win in Big Ten play this season.

Commenting on the recent scoring success of the team (the Lions scored 3 goals in one game for the first time this season), Coach Bob Warming stated “"We usually only score about three goals in 270 minutes. Today we scored three in about <80> minutes, and we could've had more. I was really pleased with the second half and the response of our players" (gopsusports.com).

Penn State hopes to continue the 4-game winning streak as they host Saint Francis Wednesday evening on Jeffrey Field at 7 p.m.