Feb. 12, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's soccer team has announced its 2008 spring schedule, revealing six dates that feature match-ups with eight NCAA Division I opponents, one Division II foe, a local professional team, and an international club team. The Nittany Lions will play three games in University Park and will travel within Pennsylvania or south to Maryland for the remaining contests. Penn State will kick off its spring schedule on Sat., March 29 when it hosts Pittsburgh (5 p.m.) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (8 p.m.). The games will be played on the West Campus turf fields, across the street from Rec Hall. The Panthers are coming off a 3-13-2 season, including a 1-9-1 mark in BIG EAST play. Penn State faced Saint Francis is a 2007 exhibition game, defeating the Red Flash, 2-0, off of goals from Jason Yeisley (Allentown, Pa.) and Frank Costigliola (Dix Hills, N.Y.) A week later, the Nittany Lions will visit Annapolis, Md. for games with Georgetown (1 p.m.) and Navy (3 p.m.) on Sat., April 5. The Hoyas went 7-11-1 a year ago, placing fifth in the BIG EAST's Blue Division. Navy's 7-8-2 2007 season was highlighted by a win over No. 20 West Virginia in Morgantown. On Sat., April 12, Penn State will travel locally to Lancaster, Pa. to face Oakland University (3 p.m.) of The Summit League and the Harrisburg City Islanders (7 p.m.), a USL-2 professional team, in the Toyota Classic. The Golden Grizzlies are no strangers to Big Ten competition, as they upset Michigan State in the opening round of NCAA Championship play as part of its 12-7-3 2007 campaign. Last season, with help from former Nittany Lions Brian Devlin and Anthony Calvano, the Harrisburg City Islanders won the USL-2 title. During the annual Blue White weekend, the Nittany Lions will host Winstars, a club team from Canada, in a 7 p.m. game on Fri., April 18. The contest will be played on the west campus turf field. The following day Penn State will take on Hofstra (6:30 p.m.) and Bucknell (8:40 p.m.) in Athens, Pa. Hofstra won three consecutive Colonial Athletic Association champions from 2004-06 before a down year in 2007 in which the Pride posted a 7-9-2 record. Bucknell, located in nearby Lewisburg, Pa., went 9-5-5 last season, placing third in the Patriot League with a conference mark of 4-2-1. The Nittany Lions and Bison last met in the regular season in 2006, a 3-1 PSU win at Jeffrey Field.
Penn State will wrap up its spring schedule on Sat., April 26 when it heads back to Lancaster, Pa. to face Millersville (10:30 a.m.) and Lafayette (3 p.m.). Millersville, which plays at the Division II level in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, amassed an 11-8-1 record in 2007. The Nittany Lions battled Lafayette to a 1-1 tie last year on Oct. 10 in University Park, Pa., with Treavor Gelsinger (Shady Grove, Pa.) netting PSU's goal. Head coach Barry Gorman, in his 21st year at the helm of the Penn State program, returns 15 letterwinners and welcomes a strong recruiting class of eight for the 2008 season. The Nittany Lions begin exhibition play on Tues., Aug. 19 when they host Marshall at Jeffrey Field in a 7 p.m. contest. PSU starts the regular season at the Ohio State Classic in Columbus, Ohio with match-ups against Central Florida (Aug. 29, 5 p.m.) and Florida Gulf Coast (Aug. 31, noon).
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