Penn State Men’s Soccer Defeats Michigan in Homecoming Matchup

Story posted October 11, 2013 in CommRadio, Sports by Anna Pitingolo

In what was predicted to be an extremely defensive match, Penn State (8-3-1) and Michigan (4-4-3) kicked off on Homecoming Eve at Jeffrey Field. The Nittany ended a four-game winless streak versus the Wolverines, by pulling out a 3-1 victory. Penn State scored multiple goals for the fourth time in the last five games en route to the win.

The Nittany Lions were quick to get on the board after a hand-ball by Michigan midfielder Tyler Arnone in the 10th minute, set up Penn State’s first penalty kick of the season. Redshirt senior defender Martin Seiler buried the kick, to for the game’s first goal. Penn State carried the momentum for the remainder of the half, maintaining a 1-0 lead at the break, despite a strong attack brought on by the Wolverines.

The second half started in a similar fashion for the Nittany Lions, as Owen Griffith scored his second goal of the season in the 47th minute, off an assist by Connor Maloney. This was the junior’s second goal of the season. Then in the 79th minute the Nittany Lions were able to go up 3-0, off of a Grant Warming goal. The goal was senior Warming’s first of his career and came in his second to last game ever at Jeffrey Field.

“Second to last game at Jeffrey in my entire career…better late than never,” Warming said. “It feels incredible.”

Four minutes later, Yamann Sahlool found the back of the net for the Wolverines, notching his first career goal.

The second half was extremely physical for both teams, as there was much pushing and tackling from both sides. The teams combined for 33 fouls throughout the game, including three yellow cards for the Nittany Lions.

Michigan was on the attack for most of the game, putting plenty of pressure on Penn State’s defense, especially keeper Andrew Wolverton, who had three saves. The Wolverines had 14 shots on goal, compared to Penn State’s eight. The Nittany Lions’ defense played a dominant game and kept Michigan from converting those shots, into goals. By the end of the game, Michigan was taking many shots from outside the box, that were sailing wide and high of the goal.

This was just the fourth game this season in which Michigan has allowed multiple goals. The three goals allowed, matches their season high, a 0-3 loss versus Notre Dame back in September.
While Penn State pulled out the win, Coach Bob Warming feels that Michigan played a better game than them.

“I thought in a lot of ways Michigan was better than us in a lot of phases of the game tonight,” Warming said, “We didn’t pay attention to a lot of details tonight.”

Penn State leads the all time series versus Michigan 10-6-2. The Nittany Lions are now 3-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since 2005. Their next game is on Sunday, October 20th, at Michigan State.