Penn State men's soccer gets set for Michigan

What a big week it will be for Coach Jeff Cook and company.

The Penn State Nittany Lions (2-3) will be taking on the No. 22 ranked Michigan Wolverines (4-0-1) on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. (ET)

This will now be the second road game of the season for Penn State, and also their second road-ranked matchup.

The first came at the hands of the No. 5 team in the country, the powerful Clemson Tigers.

In this matchup, a new challenge awaits the power of the Nittany Lions. The Michigan Wolverines through five games this season, have not lost a regular season game with an overall 4-0-1 record through non-conference play.

Now entering Big Ten play where a lot of teams have been very good so far, Penn State will have to improve the defense quickly.

And the Wolverines will certainly test that defensive on Friday with players that can score goals at will.

Michigan’s Beto Soto knows a thing or two about that.

The Houston, Texas native who transferred in from Marquette has already made his impact.

Soto is one of the most effective players in the Big Ten, considering he is leading the Wolverines so far in points this season, with five.,

He started in 55 of the 63 games while at Marquette for the past four seasons. He was able to notch a tremendous 37 total points (14 goals and nine assists) for the Golden Eagles.

The Wolverines were able to take care of business in a comfortable way through their first five games of the season, non-conference wise.

Their one ranked game came at the hands of the Oregon State Beavers-where they ended up tying at 1-1.

Loyola-Chicago, Oakland, Bowling Green and Detroit Mercy were the other four teams that they were victorious against, and one goal was allowed between all of those teams combined.

Take into account the fact that Michigan has also used three goalies already during this first stretch of games (Hayden Evans, Isaiah Goldson and Ethan Wood).

Penn State will definitely be challenged when it comes to both the defensive and offensive pressure the Wolverines put on.

As for the Nittany Lions and Coach Cook, the strength of midfielder Caden Gradfelder is something that needs to be relied on.

Grabfelder, the Northampton, PA native, has had lots of expectations this season to be the clear number-one goal scorer for Penn State.

As of now, Christian Dionne and Matthew Henderson (who is one of the team captains) are both tied with Grabfelder in goals so far this season.

Expect one of those three to step up this Friday, as the Wolverines' backline is one of their strong suits.

Penn State has a chance to make a statement this weekend, with a game against a Michigan team that is ranked for the first time this season.

The road mentality is short lived, however, as next week Cook’s squad will be welcoming the No. 12 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan State Spartans to open up Big Ten play at home.

Giustino Racchini is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him please email him at gar5448@psu.edu.