University Park, Pa. — Penn State will host Old Dominion in a second round contest of the 2010 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship on Sunday, Nov. 21 at Jeffrey Field. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students. Advanced tickets can be purchased at the Bryce Jordan Center Ticket Office through 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 19. Tickets will also be sold at the gate beginning one hour prior to the game.
Penn State was awarded the NCAA Championship’s No. 15 seed earlier this week following a run to the title game at the 2010 Big Ten Tournament. The Nittany Lions advanced to the conference championship contest for the second straight season after defeating Northwestern (3-1) and Big Ten regular season title winner Indiana (2-1). The Nittany Lions fell to Michigan, 4-1, in the championship match.
Penn State posted a 7-5 record at Jeffrey Field this season, including wins over nationally ranked opponents Michigan State, Ohio State, and Indiana. The Nittany Lions also battled No. 1 Akron into double overtime before falling on a penalty kick with less than three minutes remaining.
The Penn State offense, which has posted 41 goals in 21 games and been shutout just once, is powered by the nation’s most prolific scoring tandem in unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selections Corey Hertzog (Reading, Pa.) and Matheus Braga (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
In 2010, Hertzog firmly established himself as one of college’s soccer most talented and productive offensive players with a history-making season. His 17 goals place him among the NCAA leaders and his 39 points are the most by a Nittany Lion since Jim Stamatis totaled 44 in his Hermann Trophy winning season of 1979. Late in the year, he broke the Penn State record for shots in a season (110), surpassing the previous mark owned by Stamatis (95).
With 15 assists this season, Braga tops the Big Ten and stands as the program’s all-time single season leader; a record achieved in Penn State’s first round Big Ten Tournament victory over Northwestern. Possessing a total of 26 in three years in Happy Valley, Braga also resides in a tie for sixth place on the Penn State career assists list. He is currently second on the team in goals (5) and in points, amassing a career-high 25.
Junior midfielder Mackenzie Arment (Manheim, Pa.) (2g, 9a), freshman forward Jordan Tyler (Rochester, Mich.) (4g, 3a), and senior midfielder Drew Cost (West Chester, Pa.) (3g, 5a) have also been important contributors to the Penn State attack in 2010.
Finishing the year at No. 13 in the final RPI rankings, Penn State enters the NCAA postseason as one of the more battle tested teams in the nation based on its challenging schedule. In 2010, the Nittany Lions faced 10 teams (Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Akron, Bucknell, College of Charleston, Denver, Penn, UMBC) that qualified for the tournament, accounting for 20 percent of the overall NCAA field and over half of Penn State’s regular season opponents. Penn State is also the last team to defeat the NCAA Championship’s No. 1 seed, Louisville (16-0-3), knocking off the Cardinal, 2-1, in exhibition play at the National Soccer Festival in Fort Wayne, Ind. in August.
Old Dominion, which was an at-large qualifier for the 2010 NCAA Championship, is making its first postseason appearance since 2007. Positioned at No. 31 in the final RPI rankings, ODU finished in a tie for fourth place in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 5-4-2 record. Old Dominion upset defending national champion and in-state rival Virginia, 1-0, in first round action on Thursday evening to advance to meet Penn State. The Monarchs own a 6-9 all-time record in NCAA Championship action.
The Monarch program is helmed by 13-year head coach Alan Dawson. During his tenure, Old Dominion has amassed a 159-88-25 record and risen to national prominence with seven NCAA Championship berths, including two top 16 seeds, advancing to the round of 16 twice. A native of Belfast, Ireland, Dawson was coached as a youth by former Penn State head coach Barry Gorman.
Old Dominion recorded three victories over NCAA postseason participants during the 2010 regular season. The Monarchs’ signature win was a 2-1 triumph over then-No. 2 and tournament No. 4 seed North Carolina. Old Dominion also defeated William and Mary (1-0) and Coastal Carolina (1-0). The 2010 Monarchs are a youthful squad, as 18 of its 25 players are underclassmen.
The Old Dominion attack has produced 23 goals in 18 games and is headlined by a trio of double digit scorers in Chris Harmon (6g, 3a), Jordan LeBlanc (5g, 2a), and Gideon Asante (4 g, 2a). Freshman midfielder Alex Vaughan netted the game winner versus Virginia, his fourth goal of the year.
First Team All-CAA goalkeeper Evan Newton, ODU’s all-time leader in saves and shutouts, anchors the defense. Heading into the Virginia game, the redshirt senior possessed a 0.96 goals against average.
Despite the schools’ close regional proximity, Penn State has played Old Dominion just four times throughout its 100-year history, posting a 1-3-0 record. The teams last met in 2009, when the Nittany Lions suffered a 2-1 setback to the Monarchs in Norfolk. Penn State has never faced Old Dominion in the NCAA postseason.
A year ago, Penn State returned to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2005, earning the No. 7 seed. Hosting defending national champion Maryland at Jeffrey Field, the Lions fell, 2-1, in a hard-fought and tightly contested second round showdown. Overall, the Penn State program possesses a 24-28-1 record in NCAA postseason play. Penn State’s last NCAA Championship victory came in 2005, when the 11th-seeded Nittany Lions defeated Seton Hall, 1-0, in a second round game at Jeffrey Field.
First-year Penn State head coach Bob Warming, who is four victories shy of reaching the 400-win plateau, has been a fixture in the NCAA Championship throughout his career. During his four-year stint at Saint Louis, he guided the Billikens to four consecutive NCAA appearances, including a College Cup run in 1997. At Creighton, Warming’s Bluejay teams earned NCAA Championship berths in 11 of 14 years, including the second College Cup appearance of his career in 2002.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State-Old Dominion match on the Internet with live stats and instant scoring updates from GameTracker or with a free live video webcast. Find links on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.