November 15, 2005
The No. 9 Texas A&M soccer team (18-3-2) will travel to Penn State to take on the No. 3 Nittany Lions (21-0-1) Saturday at 12:00 p.m. (CST) at Jeffrey Field in State College.
?There are a lot of things that point to this being a very attractive and fun game to watch,? commented A&M head coach G Guerrieri. ?Penn State is very deserving of the No. 1 seed in this tournament. They?â„¢ve had a great season and are a very well coached team with a lot of talent on all sides of the ball. We?â„¢re really looking forward to the opportunity to go up there [State College, PA] and give them a real challenge.?
The Aggies, back to back Big 12 champs, advanced to their seventh Sweet 16 with wins over Northwestern State (15-6-1), 7-0, and SMU (15-5-2), 4-2, in the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament held this past weekend in College Station.
The Nittany Lions defeated Bucknell (11-9-1), 6-0, on Friday and West Virginia (12-6-0), 5-2, on Sunday in State College to move on to the third round of competition. Penn State, this year?â„¢s Big Ten champs, have made trips to the Elite Eight three of the last four years.
Saturday will mark the third meeting between the two schools on the soccer pitch, including a 3-0 Nittany Lion win in State College in the 2003 NCAA Sweet 16.
The match-up finds both teams very similar in season statistics. The Nittany Lions have outscored opponents 72-18 this season, while the Aggies have scored 71 goals to their opponents?â„¢ 19. In 21 games for Penn State, goalkeeper, Erin McLeod has allowed 18 goals while making 70 saves; a 0.85 goals against average. Kati Jo Spisak has clocked over 2,000 minutes in goal for A&M during 23 games this season, making 55 saves while only allowing 19 goals to be scored; a 0.84 goals against average.
Big 12 Tournament Offensive MVP, Ashlee Pistorius has the team lead for A&M in goals with 22 and assists with 12. First Team All-Big 12 selections, Melissa Garey and Laura Probst have combined for 24 goals and 14 assists.
Leading the way for Penn State in scoring is Tiffany Weimer with 28 goals this season. She has also contributed four assists. Carmelina Moscato leads the Nittany Lions in assists with 10 while netting seven goals of her own. Penn State is coached by Paula Wilkins who is in her fourth season.
Fans in the Bryan/College Station area will be able to listen to the match live on Sports Radio 1150 The Zone. Broadcast time will be 11:45 a.m. The broadcast will also be available free of charge worldwide on the internet through aggieathletics.com.
Please keep in mind, Texas A&M will be serving as the host institution for the 2005 Women?â„¢s College Cup, Dec. 2 and 4. For a fan guide and ticket information, go to www.AggieAthletics.com.