UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A week after garnering Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in his young career, Penn State freshman goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton (Snellville, Ga.) has been named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week.
Wolverton recorded two shutouts last week, helping the No. 15 Nittany Lions post a 1-0 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) and a 0-0 tie with Hartford. Through the first seven games of the 2011 season and his Penn State career, Wolverton has registered six clean sheets. With 12 regular season games remaining, he is four shutouts shy of tying the Penn State single season record of 10 held by Angelo Nickas (1980), Whit Gibson (1998), and Conrad Taylor (2005).
Wolverton, who has logged all 650 minutes in goal this season, anchors the Big Ten’s top defensive unit. The Nittany Lions rank first in three of the four major defensive statistical categories. Individually, Wolverton leads the conference in goals against average (0.42), shutouts (6), and shutouts per game (0.86). He is also ranked seventh in the NCAA in goals against average and 16th (tie) in save percentage.
Penn State opens Big Ten play on the road on Friday, traveling to Bloomington for a key conference match with No. 9 Indiana (5-0-2). Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
The Nittany Lions have taken five of the last nine meetings between the teams but haven’t won at Bill Armstrong Stadium since 2005. A year ago, Penn State faced the Hoosiers twice in Happy Valley, falling 3-2 in the regular season before avenging that loss with a 2-1 win in the Big Ten Tournament. The Lions are 11-27-3 all-time versus Indiana.