Home games haven't been that friendly to the Penn State men's soccer team this year. Matches on the road, well, they've been worse.
The Nittany Lions (4-8-2, 2-2 Big Ten) lost their sixth of eight games away from Jeffrey Field, falling 2-0 to Wisconsin yesterday in Madison.
In a press release after the game, head coach Barry Gorman sounded like he has after most of the team's losses this year, and a few of its wins.
He blamed the loss simply on missed opportunities, citing the young and inexperienced players he has been forced to play. The team, he said, decimated by injuries, is going to have to learn the hard way.
It hasn't gotten much harder than yesterday for the Lions.
After sparring and trading sporadic scoring chances with the Badgers for 60 minutes, the team faltered, allowing two goals in two minutes in the second half.
The first came when, after a series of passes threaded through the Lion defense, Badger forward Scott Lorenz knocked a ball into the right corner of the net, past senior goalkeeper Conrad Taylor who couldn't change direction fast enough to make the save.
Before Penn State could regroup, the energized Wisconsin offense struck again. This time, Badger forward Victor Diaz took a long ball all the way from his defense and outran the defenders before taking his shot from about 20 yards out. Taylor, making his 58th consecutive start, was able to get his hand on the ball, but couldn't stop it from leaking into the corner of the net.
Those two goals, combined with the inconsistent Penn State offense being decidedly impotent, essentially iced the game.
The Lions, despite outshooting the Badgers 10-9 and taking more corner kicks, only forced Wisconsin goalkeeper Jake Settle to make two saves for the shutout.
Although he only played 43 minutes, sophomore midfielder Michael Janov led the Lions in shots with three. However, legitimate scoring chances were almost nonexistent.
The loss leaves the defending Big Ten champs near the middle of the pack in this year's conference standings before their next conference game, a nationally televised home match against powerhouse Indiana.
