Oct. 4, 2001
Evanston, Ill. - The men's soccer squad will log plenty of miles over the weekend as they travel to State College, Pa., for a Friday night game against 19th-ranked Penn State, then return home Sunday to host Western Illinois as part of a soccer doubleheader with the women's team. The women will take the field at 1 p.m. against Iowa and the men will immediately follow at 3:30 p.m.
Friday's conference matchup, scheduled for 7 p.m., will be the 13th meeting between these two squads. Last season in Evanston, the Nittany Lions handed the 'Cats a 6-2 loss in their only meeting of the year.
Penn State is coming off a 3-1 loss to No. 6 Indiana which caused their national ranking to plummet 11 spots to No. 19. The loss to the Hoosiers is only the second of the season for PSU-they fell to South Carolina, 2-1, earlier in the season. The Nittany Lions are led by senior All-American Ricardo Villar. Villar leads the conference with eight assist, and is third in total points with 14. As a team, PSU is first in the conference in scoring, averaging 2.86 goals/game.
Wildcat head coach Tim Lenahan knows the difficulty in playing such a high-caliber team, but feels his squad has made progress this season and is ready to compete against any opponent.
"Penn State will be a very difficult challenge," said Lenahan. "They have a very strong team, one that could contend for not just a Big Ten Championship but a national title. I am encouraged by our ability to remain competitive, and I expect this weekend to be no different"
Sunday's opponent, Western Illinois, is riding a two-game win streak after defeating IPFW, 3-2, and blanking DePaul, 2-0, in last week's action. The Leathernecks hold a slight 6-5 advantage over the 'Cats in the all-time series. Their last meeting was back in 1999, with WIU edging NU, 2-1. The Leathernecks are paced by sophomore Justin Langan's nine points-three goals and three assist.
"Western Illinois provides us with an opportunity, at home, to produce not just a good effort, but a good result, "said Lenahan. "It should be a great game. Our goals are to have a chance to win every game, and it is only a matter of time before we come out on the right side of the scoreboard."