Soccer: Men's

Heartbreak just loves to haunt the Penn State men's soccer team.

After losing to a previously winless Lehigh on Tuesday in the 89th minute, the Nittany Lions (6-3-1, 1-1-0 Big Ten) were hoping to rebound at home against No. 11 Indiana - and it looked like they would pull it out.

However, the Lions fell in double overtime 1-0 on Saturday after out-shooting and outplaying the Hoosiers (7-2-1, 2-0-0 Big Ten) for most of the contest.

With more than 3,000 fans in attendance, the 105-minute clash was an emotional one to say the least for the Lions and their supporters.

With that being said, let's take a look at some key points and numbers throughout the game.

Unsung Hero: Hasani Sinclair

While the stat line says his only contribution was two shots, Sinclair was the catalyst toward the end of regulation that had the Lions on the brink of victory. The senior, who has started in all but one game last season, came back on as a substitute in the 84th minute and used a combination of swiftness and footwork to muddle Indiana defenders. In the last five minutes, he drew multiple fouls including two yellow cards. These fouls set up dangerous free kicks for the Lions but they were unable to capitalize.

Biggest Surprise: Lack of production from Julian Cardona

While Sinclair was playing extremely well, it was shocking to not see Cardona on the pitch at all in overtime. Out of 105 minutes, Cardona only saw 54 minutes of playing time - something that would have been crazy early in the season. The senior forward is the Lions’ leading scorer on the season (five goals), but has been held scoreless now in the past four games. Despite his hot start to the season, Cardona has cooled off a bit and the Lions would benefit if he got back to his scoring ways.

Stat of the Night: 10

That’s the absurd number of offsides penalties that plagued the Hoosiers. It seemed like every time Indiana would have a 2-on-1 opportunity or even a 2-on-0, the side judge threw his flag up. While a few calls were questionable, most were obvious and it slowly became the theme of the night for Indiana.

Best Thing for the Lions: Defense proved it's one of the nation's best

I say that because it virtually shut down one of the nation's best offense in Indiana. Throughout a 105-minute game, Penn State’s back line led by Brian Forgue held the No. 11 team in the country to seven shots. That’s phenomenal. Also, the center backs locked in on Indiana’s Eriq Zavaleta and made his impact almost null and void. Zavaleta, who has seven goals on the season, was minimized to four shots and one on goal. Credit should also be given to the defense for drawing Indiana offsides on a consistent basis. Even though they lost, Saturday's defensive performance is something positive for the Lions to take away after a stinging defeat.

Golf: Women's

With day two of the Nittany Lion Invitational in the books, the Lady Lions are poised to shatter multiple school records on their way to arguably the best weekend in team history.

Through two rounds of play, the team has shot 575 and is on pace to break the school’s 54 hole scoring record of 888, set at the 1999 Nittany Lion Invitational, by 26 strokes.

Leading the charge for the Lady Lions on Saturday was junior Christina Vosters, who shot a bogey-free, four under, par 68. Vosters’ second round 68 is the second best 18 hole score in school history.

“I just wanted to stay calm,” Vosters said. “It’s easy to be comfortable playing at home, and it’s great having all of the families here on parents weekend. We’ve got a great group of families, and they cheer for all the girls out there.”

Another girl the Penn State families were cheering for was Ellen Ceresko, who shot a three under par 69 for the second day in a row.

Ceresko had five birdies and two bogies on the day, including birdies on holes 9, 11 and 12 as she made the turn to the back nine.

“It was important,” Ceresko said of the four-hole stretch. “I just kept patient, and kept reiterating to myself, that ‘hey, things could happen, there’s still a lot more holes out here.”

Ceresko, who missed most of last season due to a severe case of golfers elbow, spoke to what this weekend means to her.

"Words can't describe it,” Ceresko said. “I was basically stuck in the clubhouse doing homework when the team was out here practicing.”

“I knew that, in the long run, it was a blessing in disguise for me,” Ceresko said. “I grew so much because of it. My scores, here now, are finally coming together, and it's just nice to see."

Heading into third round action on Sunday, the Lady Lions plan on doing what they’ve done all weekend -- play aggressively. “We're gunna have the same mentality,” Ceresko said. “Do the best we can, and hell, shoot under par again if we can. Nothing's changed.”

Third round action tees off Sunday with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start on The Penn State Golf Courses Blue Course. Follow the third round action live atgolfstatresults.com.

Fencing

No official score was kept in the Penn State fencing team's Alumni match Saturday morning but, that did not stop some friendly competitive chatter between the alumni and students. 

The event started with introduction from both the Alumni and current Penn State fencing team. It was a period of playful boasting that ended with all around applause. Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov gave out Penn State jackets to deserving young freshman.

The alumni were very confident heading into the meet.

“Historically the alumni pull out the win,” Jason Krasowitz, a Penn State alumnus, said. 

Coach Kaidanov talked about what the meet is all about.

“It's an opportunity to come back to youth years. It's also is a challenge and fun,” Kaidanov said.

Both sides were enjoying the competition.

“It's a lot of trash talking, but it's fun” said Adrian Bak, a senior saber and team captain.

When asked what would put the students over the alumni Bak said, “these young fresh legs." Bak, a two-time all-American, gathered a crowd when he crossed swords with Thomas Strzalkowski, a national champion for Penn State in 1992, 1993, 1994.

Another student that challenged the alumni is Daniel Gomez, who competed in the 2012 London Olympics, wielding the foil. He scored a few victories himself. The current Penn State fencing team seemed to overwhelm the alumni this year but, no official winners were crowned, just like Coach Kaidanov wanted. Instead, it was a bonding moment for both students and alumni.

As the sun set on day one of the Nittany Lion Invitational, Penn State junior Ellen Ceresko capped off her bogey-free round with a tap on 18 to finish the day at three-under-par and in sole possession of first place.

Ceresko had a career day, breaking 70 for the first time in her collegiate career with her first round 69. She led the way for her fellow Lady Lions as the team jumped out to a four-stroke lead Friday evening.

The Lions finished the day with two golfers in the top five, four in the top 15, and six in the top 20.

“It just shows how deep this team is,” coach Denise St. Pierre said. “One thing that makes this team so good is that we're not just being carried by one player, or two players. I've got six players on my starting team that can all get the job done.”

The team, four over par through round one, looks to continue it’s success as it heads into second round action on Saturday with a four stroke lead on second place Old Dominion and an eleven stroke lead on third place Harvard.

St. Pierre understands the importance of an early lead but knows the dangers of one as well.

“You gotta be careful,” St. Pierre said. “We’re not trying to think about how far ahead we are, because that’s when you get into trouble. It's certainly nice, but we're just going to go out tomorrow, and play our game."

As the second round looms, the Lions have the comfort of playing their only home match this year to fall back on.

“It’s so familiar and so nice to play a course that the girls feel they've played a million times,” St. Pierre said. “It's always great to be at home, because we don't get to do it very often, so it makes it even more special."

Second round action kicks off Saturday morning with first tee at 8 a.m. on Penn State Golf Courses Blue Course. Follow along at golfstatresults.com.

Cross Country: Women's

After staying home for the first two meets of the 2012 season, the Penn State cross country teams hit the road for the Greater Louisville Classic at Tom Sawyer Park.

The women’s team proved to be road warriors as three members finished in the top 30 in the womens 5K gold. The team as a whole racked up 161 points to finish in fifth place out of the 31 teams in the field.

The fifth place finish for the women, ranked 17th in the nation, was even more impressive considering the star-studded field of teams involved in the Classic. The Nittany Lions outpointed No. 8 Vanderbilt as well as conference foe No. 29 Wisconsin.

Junior Rebekka Simko led the way for the women, finishing in 15th place, while teammate junior Tori Perri finished close behind at 17th place. Senior Brooklyn Ridder came in at 26th place to round out the top three for Penn State.

Arizona, with 71 points, came away with the victory after narrowly defeating top-ranked Washington who finished with 80.

On the men's side, senior Sam Masters and sophomore Matt Fischer paced the team with 17th and 37th place finishes respectively. The team as a whole finished in tenth place out of the 31 teams involved after accumulating 303 points.

This served as the second consecutive race in which Masters found himself in the top 20 after finishing 13th at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational on September 8.

The tenth place finish at Tom Sawyer Park is encouraging for Penn State as that same venue is set to host the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November.

The team also performed well against a loaded entry list that included No. 6 Texas, No. 8 Iona and Big Ten foe Michigan State. The Spartans served as the first conference opponent for Penn State.

The eighth-ranked Gaels, with 47 points, claimed first place in a landslide victory over the rest of the pack. Columbia University finished in second place with 110 points.

Basketball: Men's

For Penn State Basketball head coach Patrick Chambers, the struggles of Alzheimer’s disease is personal. He lost his father in June after struggling with the disease for 12 years.

It is why Chambers will speak at the opening ceremony and participate in The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s Saturday morning in Boalsburg.

“My father was a tremendous father,” Chambers said. “He and my mother raised twelve children and always preached faith, laughter and a positive attitude.”

Chambers said he and his wife, Courtney, are excited to help in the effort to find a cure for the disease that affects five million Americans.

The opening ceremony is scheduled to begin at 9:45 a.m. with opening ceremonies and a silent auction at the Boalsburg Military Museum. The walk will start at 10 a.m.

Funds from the walk will go directly to supporting the efforts of The Alzheimer’s Association.

Basketball: Men's

The 2012-13 schedule for the Penn State men's basketball team was released when the Big Ten announced tip times and television arrangements for the upcoming season on Wednesday.

The Nittany Lions, who went 12-20 last season with a 4-14 conference record, will be broadcasted on national television at least 23 times, with at least nine appearances on the ESPN networks and 12 on the Big Ten Network.

Out of the contests being televised by ESPN, the most highly anticipated matchups are dates with preseason No.6-ranked North Carolina State in the Puerto Rico Tip-off on Nov. 15 and a home game against Big Ten foe Ohio State on Jan. 26 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

These two games are the only ones currently scheduled on ESPN's major outlets.

At least seven Lions' basketball games will be featured on ESPNU, including meetings with Boston College, Northwestern, and Nebraska.

In the last five seasons, the Lions have made 40 appearances on the ESPN Networks, with the team already picking up one more game than 2011-12's eight broadcasts.

In terms of the conference's big picture, every Big Ten regular season and tournament game will be broadcasted nationally for the sixth consecutive year.

Click here for the Lions' full schedule.

Field Hockey

Coming off a stellar weekend performance against No. 24 Indiana and No. 17 Michigan, junior forward Ashtin Klinger was named Big Ten Co-offensive player of the week, alongside Danica Deckard of Ohio State.

Klinger scored three goals this weekend, including the opening score of No. 6 Penn State's 7-1 rout over No. 24 Indiana and two back-to-back goals against No. 17 Michigan, which helped pace the Nittany Lions' close 4-3 victory over its conference rivals.

Klinger has been fantastic over her last few games for the Lions, earning herself at least a point in five straight contests. On the season she currently sits third in total goals scored with seven, behind only junior Brittany Grzywacz (8) and start forward Kelsey Amy, who leads the team with 15 goals.

With points earned in 7 of the Lions' 12 games, Klinger finds herself in an integral role up front for No. 6 Penn State and could provide a dangerous option for the team as it continues its run through Big Ten play.

Tennis: Men's

Jeff Zinn, the Penn State men's tennis head coach, discusses a range of topics from his favorite Penn State memory to his go-to place to eat in State College.

Tennis: Men's

The Penn State men’s tennis team wrapped up its trip to Charlottesville, Va., today at the UVA Ranked plus One Invitational.

Sophomore Tomas Hanzlik’s charged through the Blue singles bracket and ended Sunday with a 6-1, 6-2 loss in the final match to the No. 8-ranked player in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, Virginia's Alex Domijan.

Senior Bryan Welnetz capped off his rebound performance today after starting his season off with two singles losses. After Welnetz knocked off Louisville’s Michael Lippens yesterday, he won the first set, 6-2, against Radford’s Joe Mills before Mills retired. Welnetz’s victory earned him 13th place in the White singles draw.

Freshman Roman Trkulja was unable to pick up a victory in singles play in his debut tournament for the Nittany Lions. Trkulja fell to Alex van Gils of George Washington and then Nick Sayer of Radford, the No. 74-ranked player in the country. Trkulja was forced to retire from the tournament with an abdominal muscle injury on Saturday.

Tennis: Men's

Sophomore Tomas Hanzlik, who was the only Penn State player to pick up a win on day one of the UVA Ranked plus One Invitational, highlighted day two as well.

Hanzlik rallied in both of his singles matches yesterday. He started off the day by defeating Ole Miss’ William Kallberg, who is the No. 56 singles player in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4. Hanzlik followed that performance up with a victory over North Carolina State’s Sean Weber 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. Hanzlik will take on Virginia’s Alex Domijan in the Blue singles final today. Domijan currently sits in the No. 8 slot in the singles rankings.

Freshman Roman Trkulja ended his debut tournament with a 0-3 singles record. Trkulja was eliminated from the Blue singles bracket when he fell to the No. 74-ranked player, Nick Sayer from Radford, in straight sets. Memphis’ David O’Hare also defeated Trkulja in the 13th place bracket.

Senior Bryan Welnetz lost to Danil Zelenkov of George Washington, but rebounded with a win in the 13th place bracket against Louisville’s Michael Lippens in straight sets. Welnetz will take on Radford’s Joe Mills later today for the 13th place title in the White singles draw.

The Nittany Lions did not disappoint in doubles play for a second day in a row.

The No. 28 duo of junior Russell Bader and Trkulja knocked off the NC State team of Thomas Weigel and Rafael Paez, 8-4, to claim the Silver doubles consolation third place title.

Hanzlik and Welnetz earned a third place consolation title as well when they took down the pair of Andrew Gores and Stuart DePaolo from North Carolina. The Tar Heel duo was unable to score one point off of Hanzlik and Welnetz in the Red doubles consolation third place match

Volleyball: Women's

No. 4 Penn State women’s volleyball (12-1, 2-0) struggled against Iowa (8-7, 0-2) in front of more than 3,200 at Rec Hall on Saturday, but ultimately pulled out the win.

The Nittany Lions appeared to have all but won the third set, after already winning the first two sets, but the Hawkeyes refused to quit. The Lions were ahead in the set 18-12 when a string of hitting errors, including two by star junior Katie Slay, evened the match at 20. Iowa ended up winning the set, 29-27.

The fourth and final set told a completely different story however, with Penn State winning 25-14. All-American outside hitter Deja McClendon carried the Lions, leading the team in both kills and digs, notching 18 of each of them. One of the most telling statistics of the game was the fact that Iowa committed more attacking errors, 27 to 21, and more service errors, 9 to 8.

Lions’ head coach Russ Rose has often stressed the need to cut down on errors and said he felt “fortunate” to win the match.

Soccer: Women's

On a stormy night No. 11 Penn State women’s soccer was able to brave the elements for a victory.
The Nittany Lions (7-2-0) defeated the Northwestern Wildcats (4-3-2) 4-1 for their second Big Ten win in as many games.
Senior Christine Nairn and junior Maya Hayes led the offense with two goals apiece.
“I thought that they solved a lot more issues in the second half then they did in they first,” coach Erica Walsh said. “I thought they were quite good they came right out after halftime, overall we it was a solid performance. We were too slow and deliberate in the first half but I enjoyed watching us solve it in the second half.”
Even with a slow start the Lions were able to set the tone in the first half. Redshirt junior Tani Costa assisted to Nairn for her team-leading eighth goal of the season in the 31st minute. From 10 yards out she delivered the goal into the top left corner of the goal.
As it has done throughout the season, the Lion’s offense carried the team with eight shots on goal on 17 shots compared to Northwestern’s six shots on goal on 11 shots.
The Lions piled it on in the second half, with Nairn scoring her second goal in the opening minute of the half, from Hayes.
Hayes followed suit with her second goal of the season from Costa’s second assist of the match in the 57th minute. Hayes has two goals in as many games after returning from Japan while playing for the U-20 World Cup team.
Northwestern began to challenge in the 58th minute of the half with a goal headed in by junior Kate Allen off of an assist by freshman Jennifer Korn.
The Lions bounced back quickly with another goal in the 65th minute of the match when Hayes penetrated past her defender off of an assist by senior Maddy Evans.
The Lions fourth goal killed the momentum for the Wildcats and the match ended in a Penn State victory.
“They came out of halftime with their foot on the gas and really determined,” Walsh said. “It made all the difference in the world they imposed themselves on Northwestern in the second half where in the first half we let the game come to us.”
The Lion’s win over Northwestern was their second Big Ten victory in as many matches. They opened their conference schedule with a 2-1 victory last week against Wisconsin. They play their second match of the weekend Sunday at Illinois at 2 p.m.
“Obviously Vanessa DiBernardo is a big focus for us and she is capable of winning big games for them,” Walsh said. “They’re always well coached and well organized so I think we’ve got ourselves a good soccer game on Sunday. We’re going to face a strong opponent both athletically and from a soccer perspective.”

Tennis: Men's

Penn State opened the UVA Ranked plus One Invitational today in Charlottesville, VA.
The Nittany Lions continued to struggle in doubles play on day one of the tournament. Both pairs lost in their first-round matches. The No. 28-ranked duo of junior Russell Bader and freshman Roman Trkulja, who were the top-seed in the Silver doubles bracket, fell to Radford’s pair of Nick Sayer and Thomas Dehaen in a close 9-8 (5) match. Bader and Trkulja then lost 8-4 to North Carolina’s Esben Hess-Olesen and Nelson Vick.
Bader and Trkulja will face North Carolina State’s duo of Thomas Weigel and Rafael Paez in the third-place consolation match.
Trkulja lost his first-round singles match to Alex van Gils of George Washington in three sets 7-5, 6-7, 6-1. He will have a chance to redeem the doubles loss to Sayer when he takes Sayer on tomorrow in the consolation bracket of the Blue singles draw. Sayer is the No. 74-ranked singles player in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll.
Bader also lost his singles match to Memphis’ David O’Leary. Senior Bryan Welnetz and sophomore Tomas Hanzlik suffered the same fate as Bader and Trkulja when the No. 57-ranked doubles team of Chris
Cooprider and Kosta Blank from UNC-Wilmington took them down 8-5 in the opening round of the Red doubles bracket.
Middle Tennessee State’s team of Ben Davis and Christoph Lang defeated Welnetz and Hanzlik in the second round. The loss placed Welnetz and Hanzlik in the third place consolation game against Andrew Gores and Stuart DePaolo of UNC, which will take place tomorrow. Welnetz lost in his White singles match 6-4, 6-4 to Rafael Aita from UNC-Wilmington. Aita is ranked No. 55 in the ITA singles poll as well as being named one of the 12 “players to watch” this season. Welnetz will take on Danil Zelenkov of GW tomorrow in the consolation draw.
Hanzlik defeated Memphis’ David O’Hare in his first-round Blue singles match 6-2, 6-0. He will play the second seeded William Kallberg of Ole Miss tomorrow morning. Kallberg is the No. 56-ranked singles
player.

Soccer: Men's

The Penn State men's soccer team (6-1-1, 1-0-0 Big Ten) opened up Big Ten play Friday night with a hard fought 1-0 win against Wisconsin (2-3-3, 0-1-0 Big Ten).

The Lions dominated for large portions of the game, out-shooting the Badgers 23-9 and 14-3 in the second half. Despite this, it took until the final 10 minutes for the Lions to net the winning goal.

The subs for the Lions continued to take advantage of their extra playing time as three subs combined for the winning goal and Penn State had 16 players see playing time.

In the 81st minute, Hasani Sinclair and Drew Klingenberg picked up their first assists of the season as the Badgers turned the ball over toward the end line. The ball was crossed to Kelton Cheney at the back post, who scored in his second consecutive game.

The Badgers threatened to equalize off an 88th minute corner but sent the header wide to seal the Penn State win.

Ice Hockey: Men's

Penn State Hockey fans will get a glimpse of the Division-I men's team when the Nittany Lions host a midnight practice at the Greenburg Ice Pavilion.

Following the annual Homecoming Parade, the doors of the Greenburg Ice Pavilion will open at 11 p.m. on Friday Oct. 5. Players and head coach Guy Gadowky will be introduced to fans on the ice before the practice begins.

The "Midnight Ice Breaker" will also serve as the first official practice. October 6 is the earliest date in which the NCAA will allow organized teams to practice together as a team.

Fans will be able to meet the team in a public skate that will follow once the practice concludes at 1 a.m. The public skate is scheduled to conclude at 2 a.m.

The late night practice will also be a Code Blue Blast event for students, according to a press release.

The opening faceoff of a new era will take place a week later at the Ice Pavilion on Friday, Oct. 12 against American International College at 7:30 p.m.

Check Monday's print edition for additional coverage.

Ice Hockey: Men's

With all of the excitement built up surrounding the inaugural NCAA Division I ice hockey season at Penn State, it’s easy to overlook the Ice Lions, Penn State’s American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II team.
 

Coming off of a 30-3-0 season that ended with an early exit from the 2012 ACHA D-II National Tournament in March, the Ice Lions finalized their roster and released their schedule today.
 

The schedule, which opens on Sept. 28 at Greenberg Ice Pavillion against Penn State Berks, features contests against several familiar opponents from the Mid Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association North division, including Temple, Delaware, and Rowan. The Ice Lions posted a 12-0 record in MACHA North play last season.
 

During the summer, the Ice Lions brought in Matthew Morrow as their new head coach, presenting him with a challenging task: improve on a season in which the Ice Lions had a 25-game winning streak and lost only three games. And, of course, win the national championship.
 

Accomplishing this becomes a bit more difficult with the graduation of goaltender Tom Badali, whose 20-1 record was perfect, except the loss to Florida Gulf Coast in the ACHA D-II National Tournament Championship.
 

The Ice Lions will also be without former captain Jim Recupero for the 2012-2013 campaign. As a senior last season, Recupero played a physical two-way style, amassing 21 goals and 29 assists, good for second on the team in total scoring.

The only Ice Lion who managed to find the back of the net more than Recupero last season was sophomore forward Chris Lewis. Lewis, who netted 32 goals in his first season at Penn State, earned ACHA D-II second team All-American honors. Lewis will be joined by returning sophomores Fredrik Linge, Ben Snow, and Ryan Urban, rounding out a young corps of proven scorers.
 

Two players from last season’s Penn State ACHA Division I Icers, forward Forrest Dell and defenseman Brandon Russo will join the Division-II Ice Lions in hopes of sparking a national championship run next spring.
       

Two mid-season tournaments in October and November come as opportunities for the Ice Lions to prove they can overcome the departures of their dependable netminder and playmaking captain.
       

Hosting the tournament scheduled for Nov. 9-11, Siena College looks to avenge its 5-0 defeat to the Ice Lions in last March’s National Tournament.
       

Just three wins separated the Ice Lions from Penn State’s first ACHA national championship in 2012. Playing under a new coach, and a renewed sense of hockey excitement at Penn State, the 2012-2013 team hopes to become the first Ice Lions team to bring national glory to Happy Valley.
       

Click here to view the Ice Lions’ full schedule: http://www.psuicelions.com/schedule.php

Golf: Men's

After the first two rounds of the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational were played Monday, the Penn State men's golf team finds itself in a tie for seventh place with another Big Ten school, Michigan.

The Nittany Lions finished the first round of the day with a 296 (+12), which put them in seventh place in the 10-team field. Although they improved their second round score by four strokes, the overall 588 (+20) the Lions did not move them up the team leader board after the second round ended.

Two strokes behind the Lions is Michigan State, the other Big Ten school nearby in the standings. The fourth and final team from the conference, Northwestern, is well ahead of the other three -- the Wildcats are in second place at 575 (285-290).

Kent State (581) and Liberty (583) are just ahead of the Lions. Both schools have been golfing slightly better than Penn State, but a solid day can move the Lions into the tournament's top half.

Senior Jay Woodward and sophomore Jens Talbert lead the Lions in 18th place with a pair of 146s (+4). Woodward led the team in the first round with a 72, while freshman Geoff Vartelas led the team's second round of scoring with his own 72. Vartelas, at 150 (+8), is tied for 36th-place. He is one stroke behind senior Anthony DeGol (tied for 32nd place) and one stroke ahead of sophomore Xander McDonald-Smith (tied for 41st place), who rounds out the team's scoring.

North Texas is currently the tournament's leader. The team has been in first place after each round, shooting consecutive 284s.

After shooting a 66 (-5) to begin his tournament, Kent State's Kevin Miller slipped into a tie for third place with a 75 (+4) in the second round. The tournament's current leader is Rodolfo Cazaubon of North Texas, whose 138 (-4) is one stroke better than South Florida's Chase Koepka.

The final round of the event will be played Tuesday, and live scoring can be followed athttp://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/player/static/player3810.html. Coverage at the end of the tournament will be available in Wednesday's edition of The Daily Collegian.

For the second time this season a member of the Penn State women’s soccer team was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

Freshman midfielder Raquel Rodriguez earned the award after scoring a goal off of three shots in the Lions’ 2-1 victory over No. 13 Wisconsin this past weekend. Rodriguez netted a header off of a corner kick by sophomore Whit Church.

The Costa Rican has two goals and an assist in six matches this season.

Freshman Mallory Weber was the first Lion to be awarded the Big Ten honor this season after scoring two goals — including the game-winner — against No. 8 Virginia on Aug. 17. Rodriguez and Weber lead an impressive freshman class for the Lions with three newcomers in the current starting lineup.

Tennis: Men's

After two days of competition, freshman Matt Barry was the only Penn State player left in action at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational.
Barry was seeded sixth and took on Columbia’s ninth-seeded Ashok Narayana in the finals of the Cordish draw today. Barry fell in two close sets, 7-5, 6-4 to Narayana, who did not lose a set throughout the bracket.
Barry scraped his hand during the match, which left him bloody, but he said it did not affect his play.
Sophomore Ramy Labna started off the Princeton Invitational in the 14th spot with a loss to Brett Cromwell of Cornell on Friday. Labna was placed in the Pagoda consolation bracket and responded with two wins before ultimately falling to Binghamton’s Elliot Hureau in straight sets in the semifinals.
Junior Chris Young began his year with a first round win in straight sets against Fairleigh Dickinson’s Peter Skvarka in the Lenz draw, but lost in the quarterfinals to Mike Lampa of St. John’s in three sets. Young was placed in the second spot in the New Jersey draw, but was ousted in the round of 64 to Princeton’s top seed, Augie Bloom, in straight sets.
Senior C.J. Griffin went 0-2 with two first round exits in the Tiger and Tiger consolation brackets. Both losses came in straight sets.
Teams from Yale eliminated both of the Nittany Lion’s doubles pairs in the first round on Friday. Barry and Griffin were seeded fifth in doubles “A,” while Labna and Young were the eleventh seed in the doubles “B” group.
Look for the complete recap of the Princeton Invitational in tomorrow’s issue of The Daily Collegian.

Soccer: Men's

A first half goal was all the Penn State (4-1-1) men's soccer team needed to defeat Albany (2-4-0, 1-0) Friday night at Jeffrey Field.

The Nittany Lions started out strong creating chances during a first half in which they kept possession in the Albany half of the field for the majority, slowing picking apart the Great Dane defense.

Coach Bob Warming said the first half was the best that the team has looked all season.

The breakthrough came in the 24th minute when a ball bouncing around the box fell to Julian Cardona, who spun around and fired it into the top right corner from 20 yards out. It was his fifth goal of the season, setting a new career high after he scored four goals last season.

Cardona credits the success this season on his chemistry with forward Mikey Minutillo, who returned from injury after a three-game absence. All five of Cardona's goals have came with Minitullo on the field.

Albany had a chance to send it to overtime with four minutes left but hit the crossbar. From there, the Lions took the ball to the corner flag to run out the clock and get the win.

The Lions are back in action Sunday afternoon as they take on Adelphi following the conclusion of the women's soccer game.

The Portland Pilots (5-7) proved no match for No. 4 Penn State (8-1) in the Nittany Lions’ opening contest of the 2012 Penn State Classic.

Unexpected, however, was the crisis the Lions faced with serving, as they tallied 11 service errors compared to Portland’s three.

“I thought the serving was terrible,” said Penn State head coach Russ Rose. “You can miss serves if you’re hitting it really hard and playing really hard, but I didn’t see any of that.”

In the first set, Penn State had four service errors, followed by six in the second set and one more in the last - the biggest offender being Micha Hancock, who led the Lions with five service errors. However, to mask Penn State’s shortcomings, the Lions’ methodical offensive strategy proved enough to win the match. This came as a surprise to Rose who said the Pilots are, in fact, a very solid team. Penn State won all three sets, including an opening drubbing where the Lions won the set, 25-9. Deja McClendon led the match in kills (15) and delivered a .609 attacking percentage.

By Matt Bufano

Tennis: Men's

The Penn State men's tennis team kicked off its 2012-2013 campaign at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational yesterday. The Nittany Lions had some up and down moments, but freshman Matt Barry highlighted the team's first day of competition.

Barry, who is competing in his first collegiate tennis tournament, beat Ivan Vereschaga of Buffalo and Ibrahim Shams of Fairleigh Dickinson, without dropping a set. He will continue his singles journey, as the sixth seed, through the Cordish bracket when he takes on Princeton's own, Matt Spindler, in the semifinals later today.

Junior Chris Young, seeded 9th, started off his singles competition for the year by defeating Peter Skvarka of FDU in straight sets in the first round of the Lenz bracket. But, Young lost to St. John's Mike Lampa, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, in the quarterfinals.

Cornell's Brett Cromwell ousted 14th seeded sophomore Ramy Labna in the first round 6-2, 6-3. Labna rebounded in the consolation bracket by defeating Dom Devaux-Lovell of FDU and later Labna bested Penn's Jason Magnes in his second round match. He will take on Binghamton's Elliot Hureau in the semifinals.

Six-seeded senior C.J. Griffin lost in the first round of the Tiger draw to Yale's Marc Powers, 6-0, 6-3. Griffin was placed in the Tiger consolation bracket and will compete later today.

Teams from Yale eliminated both of the Lion's doubles pairs. In the doubles "A" group, the fifth seeded duo of Barry and Griffin dropped their match, 8-2, to Patrick Chase and John Huang.

Labna and Young, who were slotted as the 11th seed, lost in their doubles “B” match to the pair of Daniel Faierman and Matt Saiontz, 8-3.

Field Hockey

The Nittany Lions' field hockey team will keep their fight going as they take on two nonconference opponents this weekend.

The No. 6 Lions (6-2) are back on the road this weekend after their shut out against Lock Haven, 5-0, on Wednesday.

The Lions had great support through out the game Wednesday night as all five goals were scored by different players.

The Lions will be traveling to Bethlehem, Pa., where they will be competing against Lehigh on Friday night. The team will then make its way to New Jersey, where it will take on Monmouth on Saturday.

Head coach Charlene Morett said the Lions are going into the weekend with the
mindset of just taking it day at a time.

“Playing on the road is never easy,” Morett said “And I know these teams are going to be excited about us coming to their fields so I hope we just rest up, get a little bit more healthy and take it one game at a time.”

Ice Hockey: Men's

Hockey student ticket packages are still available today until 6 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office.

There are two five-game packages (Package B and C) that haven't been sold out for $20 each. Package A was sold out yesterday, when 388 hockey fans bought it. Students who purchased a package yesterday may buy another one today. Students can either call in or buy in person and need a valid student ID and the tickets can be purchased with only cash or credit card.

There will be a single-game ticket sale closer to the season, with the Nittany Lions' first game on Oct. 12 against American International. The single-ticket supply for games is limited to about 20-30 tickets per game for $5 each.

Golf: Women's

Although the Penn State women's golf team slipped two spots to 13th out of 24, it is still performing well at the Cougar Classic, a tournament filled with national powerhouses.

Overall, the Nittany Lions' total score of 296 (+8) from Monday's second round was three strokes off of its opening round total. Although they stayed rather consistent, it was not enough to hold onto 11th place, as Tennessee, UNC, and Central Florida all jumped ahead of them. However, the team did pass Wisconsin after the Badgers' second round total was thirteen strokes worse than its opening-round total.

Junior Christina Vosters matched matched her first round score with another 71 (-2). The performance was strong enough to move ahead one more spot to a tie for 12th on the individual leaderboard. Ellen Ceresko, who also shot a 71 on Sunday, notched a 73 during her second round. The junior is now tied for 22nd place. Meanwhile, sophomore Elyse Archambault improved by one stroke, shooting a 74 on Monday, good enough for a share of 59th place. Senior Emily Ransone's 78 gave her an overall score of 154, rounding out the Lions' scoring in 93rd place.

Florida moved ahead of USC Monday for first place on the team leaderboard. After beginning the day tied in second place and one stroke off of USC's lead, the Gators shot a 279 (-9) on Monday and now lead the competition with an overall score of 565. USC remains close in second place at 568.

Florida's Isabelle Lendl gave up her individual lead to teammate Camilla Hedberg, who will enter Tuesday's final round with a 135 (-9). Lendl is now in second place, two strokes off of Hedberg.

Live scoring of Tuesday's final round can be followed here. End-of-tournament coverage will appear in The Daily Collegian.

Soccer: Men's

Men's soccer defender Owen Griffith has been named Big Ten Defensive Player Of The Week, according to the league office. It is the first time of his career that he has grabbed the accolade, as he helped guide the Lions' defense to a 0-0 tie against West Virginia on Thursday night.

The sophomore played all 110 minutes as the defense limited the Mountaineers to just four shots on goal and 13 overall shots.

He was also a factor on the offensive side of things, as he registered three shots.

Griffith has started all five games so far this season for a Nittany Lions team that has recorded shutouts in three of their five games. The team has allowed four goals for a 0.80 goals against average, good for second best in the conference behind Indiana.

He is the second Lions' defender to the win the award this season, as Brian Forgue won the honor on August 27 for his performance in a shut out against Stetson.

Golf: Men's

Things got even worse for Penn State's men's golf team following a poor opening-round showing at the Gopher Invitational Sunday.

Sophomore Jens Talbert and freshman Chris Houston did not golf in the day's second round for undisclosed reasons. This gave the short-handed Nittany Lions a DNF on the team leaderboard, taking them out of the conversation for a team victory.

Even if Talbert and Houston did compete in the second round, though, chances are the team would not have finished Sunday too high on the leaderboard anyway. A team score of 310 (+22) left the Lions in 13th place out of the 15-team field, giving them plenty of work to do to catch up to California, which shot a round-leading 274 (-14).

However, it was not all bad news for the Lions. The three golfers on the team that did compete in the second round all improved their scores--senior Anthony DeGol by six strokes, senior Jay Woodward by one stroke, and freshman Geoff Vartelas by three strokes.

Vartelas, who is making his debut with the Lions at the tournament, led the team in each round and currently has an overall score of 147 (+3). Houston, also in his first tournament as a Lion, tied Talbert for third on the team after the first round with a 79 (+7). Both freshmen are already proving they can add even more young talent to team over the course of the season.

California is leading all teams heading into Monday's final round. With an overall score of 564 (-12), the Golden Bears are the only team shooting under par. SMU is the closest competitor, 14 strokes behind with a 578 (+2).

It comes as no surprise that the top of the individual leaderboard is filled by Golden Bears, too. Max Homa leads everyone after shooting a total of 137 (-7). Brandon Hagy, also of California, and Victor Perez, of New Mexico, are tied for second place with two 141s (-4).

Live scoring of Monday's final round can be followed at http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/index.cfm?tournament_id=3644. End-of-tournament coverage can be found inside The Daily Collegian later this week.

Golf: Women's

Before Penn State's women's golf team left for South Carolina to compete in the Cougar Classic, junior Ellen Ceresko said the Nittany Lions was planning on making a statement on the course to the rest of the schools participating. She was confident in her team's ability to place well in the tournament, despite 13 of the 24 teams in the field being ranked in Golfweek's final Top 25 of last season.

So far, the Lions are backing up Ceresko's words.

After the opening round Sunday, the team is in eleventh place with a total team score of 293 (+5). The Lions are currently ahead of four of those ranked teams--LSU (No. 4, T-21st place), UNC (No. 6, T-15th), Tennessee (No. 15, 13th), and South Carolina (No. 18, 23rd).

Individually, Ceresko and fellow junior Christina Vosters lead the Lions with a pair of 71s (-1), good enough for a share of 13th place. Sophomore Elyse Archambault fired a first round score of 75 (+3), senior Emily Ransone shot a 76 (+4), and sophomore Katlyn Elliot shot a 77 (+5) to round out the team's scoring, finishing the day tied for 60th, 77th, and 88th place, respectively.

USC leads the field after the first day of competition, notching a total team score of 285 (-3). Duke (-2), Virginia (-2), Florida (-2), and Auburn (-1) round out the Top 5.

Isabelle Lendl of Florida and Marta Sanz of Auburn lead all players with 67s (-5), with four more golfers trailing by two strokes.

Live scoring can be followed at http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/index.cfm?tournament_id=3735, and end-of-tournament coverage can be found later this week inside The Daily Collegian.

Basketball: Men's

Small forward Payton Banks has become Penn State's third verbal commit for the class of 2013, according to Lions247.com.

The 6-foot-5, Orange, Calif., native also holds offers from Nevada, Pepperdine and UTEP, according to Rivals, where he is listed as a three-star recruit.

Shaler Area guard Geno Thorpe committed to head coach Patrick Chambers in November and Germantown Academy power forward Julian Moore gave his pledge in late July. Both are three-star recruits.

Brandon Austin, the No. 71 player in the nation according to Rivals, decommitted from Penn State in July. He was the highest rated player Chambers had received a verbal from in his two years as head coach of the Nittany Lions.

Soccer: Women's

The United States’ U-20 women's national soccer team defeated Nigeria 2-0 Tuesday morning to advance to the finals of the U-20 World Cup in Japan.

Two players on Penn State’s current roster, juniors Maya Hayes and Taylor Schram, are playing for the U.S. national team. Hayes leads the team in the tournament with four goals, including a three-goal effort against Ghana during group play.

In the semifinal match, goals by Virginia’s Morgan Brian and UNC’s Kealia Ohai propelled the U.S. team in their shutout of Nigeria.

The U.S. squad will go on to face defending World Cup champion Germany in the final on Saturday. The Americans will look to get revenge after being swept by the Germans in pool play, 3-0.

Hayes and Schram will most likely return to the Lions for the beginning of their Big Ten schedule against Wisconsin at home September 16th.

Soccer: Men's

With just one day of rest between games, the Penn State men's soccer team (3-1-0) lost to No. 21 Georgetown (4-0-0), 2-1, in the first road game of the season on Sunday.

The short layoff appeared to affect the Lions as the team got off to a sluggish start. It was all Hoyas early on as they dominated for the entire first half, out-shooting the Lions 14-0.

The Lions scored an own goal in the 24th minute to make it 1-0 after a Hoyas' shot hit the post 10 seconds earlier.

The team ended up making adjustments in the second half and started getting shots away. Penn State scored to make it 1-1 on its first shot of the game. In the 53rd minute, junior defender Akil Howard sent in a cross to the center of the box that was scored by midfielder Marvin Ledgister -- his first goal of the season.

The tie game didn't last long because after the kick off, Georgetown took the ball up-field and forward Brandon Allen shot a ball in off the right post for his third goal of the season. The goal came just 52 seconds after the Lions' scored.

After the goal, the Lions' goal scoring chances were limited. In total, they had eight shots during the game with just four on target. The Hoyas' ended up out shooting them 20-8 while having an 8-3 advantage on corners.

In the 87th minute, Lions' midfielder Julian Cardona took a shot but it was saved by Georgetown goalie Tomas Gomez. The Hoyas' finished the game by keeping possession to wind down the clock and secure the 2-1 win.

In the women’s volleyball circuit, this was close to a regular season national championship.

A crowd of 4,809 packed Rec Hall Saturday night to watch the final contest of the third annual Nike Big Four Volleyball Classic between No. 4 Penn State and No. 2 Texas.

The Nittany Lions toppled the Longhorns in three straight sets.

“I don’t think it was the cleanest match, but it was a nice win,” said Russ Rose, Penn State head coach. “We played well. It’s not the best we can play, but it was how we played today against a team that if you don’t play well, they can bounce you pretty good.”

The Lions rushed out to a lead, winning the first match of the night, 25-22. Penn State’s Deja McClendon was one of the Lions’ game-changers, being especially active late in the match and delivering the 24th and 25th points for Penn State on kills assisted by Micha Hancock.

The Lions’ hot start carried into the second match, when Penn State raced out to a short-lived 13-10 lead. After tying the second match at 14, the Longhorns’ Khat Bell used finesse to push the ball past the Lions’ defense, giving Texas a 15-14 lead. Texas, unable to cash in on the momentum shift following Bell’s kill, called timeout when Penn State took the lead, 20-19. From there, it was a wrap, as Penn State won the set, 25-21.

Prior to the third match starting, the two teams had already competed in an exhausting two sets - evident by 27 ties and nine lead changes in just over an hour of play. Following Friday night’s marathon win against Stanford - which clocked in at more than three hours of play - a match lasting less than two hours would be ideal for the Lions.

Late in the third match, Penn State’s Katie Slay and Hancock assisted for a block to put the Lions up 20-18. Texas followed by calling a timeout, just five points away from spoiling their undefeated record of 5-0.
Following the timeout, Slay and McClendon combined for a block, giving Penn State a 21-18 lead and propelling the entire gym to its collective feet. For the 24th point, McClendon delivered a kill from far south side of the court which flew to the far north side of the gym. Penn State then won the match 25-22, behind the strength of team leaders - Ariel Scott, kills (12); Lacey Fuller, digs (9); Slay, blocks (4).

This weekend marks the first time Penn State went undefeated in the Big Four. Dominique Gonzalez helped the Lions’ cause, too, adding in three digs from the libero position.

“They’re great teams, this is always a great tournament and this is a good win for us, but we always say the season doesn’t stop now,” Gonzalez said. “We have to get better every day and work on things we
need to work on.”

What’s next for Gonzalez and Penn State is out-of-conference play before starting their Big 10 schedule on September 19.

To email reporter: myb5162@psu.edu

Set up in the air and boom, point Penn State.

That was pretty much how the first set went for the No. 4 Nittany Lions as they came out from the opening whistle on fire and immediately jumped out to a 4-0 lead. The squad didn’t look back from there as it continued to dominate Stanford, building up a 16-8 lead. The Cardinal would only manage to get within six, before the Lions rolled off five straight points to take the opening set 25-13.

It seemed like this matchup of top 10 teams was going to be a blow out, but then the Cardinal showed the more than 5,000 fans in Rec Hall why they were the most elite program in NCAA history with six national titles. They stormed back to take the second set, despite an impressive rally from the Lions, who scored nine straight points at one time.

Being split at one set apiece, the Lions knew they had to take two out of the next three sets and that’s exactly what they did. They won a close third set 25-23 and after the Cardinal forced a fifth set, capitalized on Cardinal mistakes and won the fifth set 15-13, giving the Lions (4-0, 0-0 Big Ten) the win in their home opener.

“We hung in there with the help of a great crowd and a building where we need to have those big crowds and we need to have good energy to get things done,” head coach Russ Rose said. “I thought A[riel] Scott had an awful lot of swings and had a great night for us as far as generating kills .”

The junior outside hitter had a big night for the Lions and registered 26 kills, just one away from tying her career high from last season against Illinois. Her kills were a match-high and were one more than the top Cardinal hitters could post combined.

“They were playing really good defense and you just have to keep a level head and not get frustrated, and try and get a kill the next time,” Scott said.

Despite Scott laying down the hammer, Rose gave a lot of credit to sophomore defensive specialist Lacey Fuller.

“The key player for me was Lacey. I thought she came in and was tough and made some great plays, and had good energy,” Rose said. “She didn’t play a lot and she had 10 digs in a match that we needed her to make some big digs, so I thought she did a good job.”

Next up for the Lions is a Saturday night showdown with No. 2 Texas at 7 p.m at Rec Hall. A win would allow the Lions to improve to 5-0 and go 2-0 in the Nike Big Four Volleyball Classic — something that the squad has not been able to do in two attempts. A win would also avenge the 3-2 loss the Lions suffered last year to the Longhorns in the classic.

To email reporter: amd5533@psu.edu