No. 15 Ohio State Faces First Big Ten Road Test Sunday at Penn State – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
COLUMBUS, Ohio – After winning all seven matches in September, six of them shutouts, Ohio State looks to continue its winning ways when the team travels to University Park to take on Penn State at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Buckeyes opened up Big Ten play with a 1-0 win over Michigan Sunday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS
Led by third-year head coach Erica Walsh, the Nittany Lions have posted a 4-5-1 record after losing a 3-2 heartbreaker in overtime Sunday at Michigan State. Junior forward Danielle Toney has scored five goals and added a pair of assists this season, good for seventh in the Big Ten with 12 points.
Ohio State trails the all-time series with Penn State, 13-5-1, but the Buckeyes took last year’s matchup, 1-0, at Penn State.
11 AT HOME…AND ADMISSION IS FREE
The Buckeyes’ schedule includes four remaining matches at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. New for 2009: admission to all Ohio State home soccer matches is free to all.
THE COACHING STAFF
Ohio State is under the direction of 13th-year head coach Lori Walker. Walker has guided the team to four NCAA tournament berths (2002-03-04-07) as well as two Big Ten tournament championships (2002 and 2004). Greg Miller is in his second season as associate head coach and ninth overall with the Buckeyes. The 2009 season marks the second season for assistant coach Glen Tourville.
TAKING THEIR SHOTS
Ohio State has outshot its opponents 170-57 overall and 67-18 on goal. There also has been a huge disparity on corner kicks as the Buckeyes hold a 79-16 advantage over their opponents in that category.
SOLID START
After getting off to a slow start in 2008 (0-4-2), the Buckeyes have done just the opposite in 2009. The 8-1-1 start marks the best 10 game start in school history and is the best since the 2003 team. That team finished the season with a 13-5-3 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
The Buckeyes sit in a tie for second in the NCAA in shutout percentage after posting clean sheets against eight of their first 10 opponents. Ohio State has trailed in fewer than 62 of 929 minutes played.
SHUTTING THEM DOWN
Goalkeeper Lauren “Taz” Robertson is tops in the Big Ten and sixth in the country with a 0.39 goals-against average. The senior co-captain and Ohio State career shutout leader with 25 has eight clean sheets in 2009, just one shy of the single-season school record.
Robertson has been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week twice in 2009 and seven times in her career.
CONTINUING WHERE SHE LEFT OFF
Forward Paige Maxwell, the Buckeyes’ leading scorer with eight goals in 2008, already has five in 2009. The sophomore notched her second career hat trick in Ohio State’s 6-0 win over Youngstown State. She is just the second Buckeye in history to record multiple hat tricks.
MOVING ON UP
After breaking into the Top 25 of the NSCAA/adidas rankings two weeks ago, the Buckeyes have now moved up to 15th. Ohio State is also ranked in the Soccer America poll at No. 25.
The last time the Buckeyes were ranked this high was Sept. 4, 2005.
AT HOME AT JESSE OWENS
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium has proved to be a more than advantageous home for the Buckeyes in its 10 years of existence. Consider:
– The home team is 70-30-9 all-time.
– Ohio State is 51-13-7 since 2003 and 26-8-3 since 2006.
– The Buckeyes went 6-3-2 at home in 2008.
– So far this season, Ohio State is 5-1 at home.
UP NEXT: IOWA, NORTHWESTERN
After the game against the Nittany Lions, the Buckeyes return home to take on Iowa Oct, 9 and Northwestern Oct. 11. It will be Buckeyes Go Pink night in support of breast cancer awareness Friday against Iowa and the Sunday matchup with Northwestern will be shown live on Big Ten Network.
