Athletics

Men's soccer gains first round upset win in Big Ten tournament

Bloomington, Ind. - In the first game of the 2003 Big Ten Men's Soccer Championship at Bill Armstrong Stadium on the campus of Indiana University, No. 6 seed Penn State earned revenge Thursday, as the Nittany Lions ousted third-seeded Michigan State, 2-1. The Spartans topped Penn State, 4-3, in the regular season.

Penn State's Chad Severs, who scored a goal against the Spartans in the regular season, netted the game-winner at the 67:56 mark on assists from Simon Omenkanda and Jeff Chambers. The ball was served from Simon Omenkanda to the near post and was misplayed by Spartan defenders, allowing Severs to slash in at the 15-yard mark. Severs spun and delivered the shot to the center of the net between the legs of a stretched-out Mike Robinson in goal for the Spartans. It was Severs' team-best seventh goal of the season, while Omenkanda recorded his eighth assist this year, also a team high.

The Nittany Lions (8-10-0) jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead as Kenji Treschuk scored unassisted in the 12th minute of play off a free kick from the top of the box to the top-left corner.

Michigan State (11-5-2) answered back six minutes later on a Thomas Trivelloni goal from Ryan McMahen. Trivelloni, who netted a goal against PSU in the regular season, headed the shot past Penn State's Matt Novchich, who faced only two Spartan shots in the first half. The Nittany Lions dominated offensively in the first half, recording a 12-2 shot advantage over MSU.

Penn State was determined to capture the lead in the second half and keep it, after a disappointing second half in its final regular season game against Indiana, where the Nittany Lions gave up three goals and the win in the final 30 minutes of play. Penn State locked down and denied Michigan State the tying score, despite being out-shot 8-3 in the second half.

The Spartans didn't go down easy though, as Greg Doster gave Michigan State one last hope with eight seconds to play, heading the ball just over the crossbar.

In goal, Novchich stopped five shots for the Nittany Lions, while Robinson finished with four saves.

"You have to give Penn State a lot of credit," said Michigan State head coach Joe Baum. "They battled hard, they scored a goal against the win in the second half and made the big play to win the game. We thought going into the second half that someone was going to make a big play. They made the plays and we didn't, so I give them all the credit."

In the regular season contest between the two teams, a total of 28 fouls were called and two yellow cards were given. Thursday afternoon was much of the same, as 30 fouls were recorded and three yellow cards were issued.

With McMahen assisting on the lone Spartan goal Thursday, he finishes the year having a hand in all five goals scored against Penn State. In the 4-3 win during the regular season, McMahen netted a goal and recorded three assists.

It was a beautiful, but windy day in Bloomington Thursday, as temperatures hovered around 40 degrees. Both teams had to contest with 25 mile per hour gusts throughout the majority of the game.

"The wind made it difficult in terms of playing good soccer, but I thought we stuck to our game plan and did it pretty well," said Penn State head coach Barry Gorman. "We should have capitalized and out away our chances. In the second half we had a great performance and I'm glad to win."

Penn State, the defending Big Ten Tournament Champion, moves on to the semifinals where it awaits the winner of the Michigan/Northwestern game, which will be played Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. ET.

Last Updated March 20, 2009

Contact