Buckeyes Capture Big Ten Tournament Title and NCAA Automatic Bid – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Ohio State men’s soccer team is making a case for the renaming of the Hoosier city to Bluem-ington. Head coach John Bluem and the No. 25-ranked and top-seeded Buckeyes captured the 2009 Big Ten Tournament title with a 1-0 win over Penn State Sunday afternoon on Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium. David Tiemstra scored the game-winning goal with 43 seconds remaining in regulation to give Ohio State its second tourney title in three years and its third overall, as well as the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Buckeyes are now 12-4-4 on the season, while Penn State drops to 12-7-2.
“I am breathless. What a hard fought game,” Bluem said. “We did not have a good first half today. Penn State, to its credit, were very good all day long today. They gave us fits. They shut us down completely. It took a great effort by Tiemstra to steal a win. I was already thinking about penalty kicks.”
Tiemstra, a native of Clarendon Hills, Ill., also scored the game-winner vs. Michigan to lead the Buckeyes to the regular-season championship Nov. 7. This is the first time in program history Ohio State has won both the regular-season and tournament championships.
Tiemstra and Doug Verhoff were named to the All-Big Ten Tournament Team, while Verhoff earned Defensive Most Valuable Player honors. Penn State’s Corey Hertzog was the offensive MVP after netting a hat trick to lead the Nittany Lions over Michigan State in the semifinal.
Ohio State held a 10-8 advantage in shots and a 6-3 margin in corner kicks. Both goalkeepers – Big Ten co-Freshman of the Year Matt Lampson and Penn State’s Warren Gross made four stops.
The Buckeyes will find out their NCAA Tournament fate at 5:30 p.m. Monday. The selection show will air live on ESPNews. This will mark Ohio State’s seventh appearance in the national tournament, all coming under Bluem’s reign.
All-Tournament Team:
Northwestern: Pat Coleman
Wisconsin: Eric Conklin
Michigan: Julian Robles
Michigan State: Tim Granaderos, Rubin Bega
Indiana: Andy Adlard, Will Bruin
Penn State: Corey Hertzog, Warren Gross
Ohio State: David Tiemstra, Doug Verhoff
Offensive Player of the Tournament: Corey Hertzog
Defensive Player of the Tournament: Doug Verhoff
