Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/199173
MEN'S SOCCER Lions defeat Michigan State in overtime NET EFFECT Wolverton played every minute of the Nittany Lions' first 13 games this season. He's been a key part of Penn State's surge to the top of the Big Ten standings. Penn State Athletic Communications former Dutch national team and Manchester United goalkeeper whose height (6-6) made him an obvious role model for the lanky kid from Atlanta. He may never reach that world-class level, but in at least one way, he's been training for it for years. "When I was a kid, the parents on the sideline kept complaining because I yelled too much," he said of an innate tendency to verbally organize his defenders. "My parents talked to me about it, but after a while, they were like, 'You actually have to do that. '" And so he has, providing the Nittany Lions with another of the intangibles that has Wolverton feeling like they're destined to not just make the tournament this season, but make a run. "The thing is, even when we haven't played our best, we're still finding ways to win. That's the difference between good teams and great teams, " he said. "We're playing well, and we're confident. We want to go far. " I The 17th-ranked Nittany Lions have been riding high all season, and they were feeling particularly good after defeating host Michigan State, 2-1, in double overtime on Oct. 20. The victory over the No. 14 Spartans was Penn State's seventh win in its past eight games, and it kept the team unbeaten in Big Ten play at 4-0 (9-3-1 overall). Playing in front of 1,222 fans at the DeMartin Complex, the Spartans jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute before the Nittany Lions scored the equalizer in the 50th on a goal by sophomore Drew Klingenberg. At that point, the scoring stopped, and it didn't resume until the second overtime period. That's when Jordan Tyler, a fifth-year senior striker and Michigan native, scored the winner off an assist from junior Mike Robinson. Junior goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton saved a career-high nine shots. "That was a really gutsy performance against a talented Michigan State team, head coach Bob " Warming said. "It's easy to see why they were the No. 1 RPI team in the country last week. " As of this writing, the Lions owned a six-point lead in the Big Ten standings and were in position to clinch at least a portion of the league's regular-season crown with a win or tie in either of their final two Big Ten games. Those games will be against Northwestern at Jeffrey Field on Oct. 27 and at Ohio State on Nov. 2.