Penn State men’s soccer looks to bounce back as conference play begins

This Friday, the Penn State Nittany Lions will open their conference schedule on the road in Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Nittany Lions will look to regroup after suffering their first loss of the season to the University of Pennsylvania.

Both teams played a very tight first half not allowing a goal on either side, although Penn State had numerous chances to jump out for an early lead.

It wasn’t until a fast break in the second half by Penn led to a slip by Penn State defender Femi Awodesu allowing senior midfielder Michael Hewes to open the scoring on a two-on-one advantage.

Hewes ended up tallying two more goals including taking one as a penalty to complete the hat-trick stunning the Happy Valley faithful.

The Lions fell to 2-1-2 and as they were ranked No. 14 at the time going into the game, they have fallen out of the top 25 national rankings.

The blue and white can’t hang their heads now as head coach Jeff Cook mentioned a week ago that where they are at on the rankings isn’t what they’re focused on right now.

“Where we are in the rankings at this moment in time is not that significant to be perfectly honest,” Cook said. “I do think it’s important that we acknowledge all the hard work and the incredible energy that’s poured into creating this opportunity for our team.”

The next chapter mid-season is what's next for Penn State, which is Big Ten Conference play.

With their current standings without conference play, Penn State sits at No. 4 in the Big Ten.

Over in Columbus the Buckeyes have had a rather slower start to their 2023 campaign with a record of 1-2-2.

Ohio State earned its first win of the year last Saturday with a 1-0 win at Butler in their first real test on the road. Their scoring came from senior captain midfielder Laurence Wootton for his first of the season and sixth career game-winner.

The Buckeyes are looking to give Penn State another bump in the road for this early season, but it won't be easy. The Nittany Lions have valuable pieces with an attack Ohio State hasn’t seen yet.

For Penn State they need both sides of the ball cleaned up after the game against Penn, but it’s not a long shot as they need to control the game and find a tempo that Ohio State can’t match.

First off freshman midfielder Caden Grabfelder needs to continue his hot start after playing in all of the first five games. Grabfelder is tied at the top with Van Danielson and captain Peter Mangione in goals and also leads the team in points with five.

Forward Peter Mangione needs to work with the rest of his wingers to create chances in front of the net but also bring physical pressure. What lacked offensively against Penn was finding the open seams to create a scoring play.

The defense needs to be at the top of their game, they can’t compel another mistake with another mistake, they must move on from the last match and be ready to get back to it.

Kris Shakes may have had an off night last match, but the goalkeeper just moved into third all-time in career saves at Penn State. The loss against the Quakers will only motivate the fifth-year veteran even more going into Ohio.

Regardless of both teams' last matches, they both will be ready to get at it in Columbus for a Big Ten thriller.

Matt Cabram is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mwc5817@psu.edu