Blue White Illustrated

T he pitch is straightforward: If you're a talented young goalkeeper, you are going to want to attend Penn State, because no program values the position quite like the Nittany Lions do. "We self-describe ourselves as Goal- keeper U," men's soccer coach Bob Warming said recent- ly. "It's been Line- backer U, but we're trying to make our- selves Goalkeeper U. We have a special, special situation with goalkeepers at Penn State." Indeed they do. Warming is a former goalkeeper himself, having gone 28- 2-2 at Berea College in Kentucky in the mid-1970s. Assistant coach Michael Behonick had 16 shutouts in his playing career at American Uni- versity, and before joining Warming's staff last year, he helped Virginia com- pile 31 shutouts during a four-year stint as the team's goalkeepers coach. Under their tutelage, Penn State de- veloped Andrew Wolverton into a Major League Soccer SuperDraft choice in January. And in propelling Wolverton into the professional ranks – he is now with the defending MLS champion LA Galaxy – they developed themselves into a destination school for some of the nation's most sought-after goal- keepers, one of whom – Matt Bersano – is suiting up for the Nittany Lions this season after beginning his career at Oregon State. Bersano, a Tempe, Ariz., native, has gotten off to a remarkable start. In his first five games, he surrendered just three goals, helping lift the Nittany Lions to a 3-1-1 record. His three shutouts led the Big Ten, his 19 saves were tied for second and his .57 goals- against average was ranked third. Bersano came to Penn State in large part because he knew there was an opening following Wolverton's grad- uation. He had clicked with Warming and Behonick during his whirlwind re- cruitment, and after spending the sum- mer with Lane United, a Premier De- velopment League team based in Eu- gene, Ore., he headed to University Park. "With what Penn State wanted with their program, what their ideals were, it was something I wanted to step into," Bersano said. "We have been in this together from the start. … I came on my visit and loved it. We all wanted the same thing and it wrote itself from there." Bersano has helped the Nittany Lions get off to a strong start, even as they've struggled to regain their offensive swagger following the graduation of high-scoring forward Mickey Minu- tillo. Freshman forward Mac Curran had scored two goals through five games to lead the team and had ac- counted for more than a third of its total shots. But of the Big Ten's nine soccer-playing schools, Penn State V A R S I T Y V I E W S NET WORTH Focus on goalkeeping pays o for PSU soccer | Indy Fuel of the East Coast Hockey League for the 2015-16 season. Indy is affiliated with the AHL's Rockford Ice- Hogs and the NHL's Chicago Black- hawks. Koudys, the 2014-15 captain as a sen- ior, becomes the second Nittany Lion to sign a professional contract in the past five months, joining Casey Bailey of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Smithville, Ontario, native graduated this past spring with a degree in engineering. Koudys collected two goals and 11 assists during his two seasons at Penn State following two seasons at RPI. He was also selected in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL Draft by the Washington Cap- itals. The Indy Fuel had its inaugural season in 2014-15 with a 31-30-4-7 record in the ECHL, which is the Class AA league of North American hockey. Koudys will join a training camp consisting of play- ers from the ECHL and AHL. Rockford went 46-23-5-2 in the AHL, and the parent club, Chicago, won its third Stanley Cup final in the past six years. Student tickets disappear quickly Well, that didn't take long. Penn State students scooped up their 1,000 allotted season tickets in five minutes on Sept. 3. This marks the third consecutive year that the Roar Zone will be sold out. "Penn State students are the absolute best," head coach Guy Gadowsky said. "I love the Roar Zone and I can't wait to see them rock Pegula Ice Arena in Octo- ber." The student body affirmed its passion for Penn State hockey with a flurry of ticket purchasing at 7 a.m. A 16-game season-ticket package was available on- line, and by 7:05 a.m. all tickets were claimed. A year ago, tickets were pur- chased in three minutes' time. Last season, Penn State played in front of an NCAA-leading 104.3 percent aver- age capacity crowd, going 13-2-3, which was the second-best home record in Di- vision I. ■ BERSANO

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