Sept. 17, 2009
NORFOLK, VA-- The ODU Soccer Monarchs (4-1) host the Nittany Lions of Penn State (4-1) Friday night at 8 p.m. It will be a reunion between head coaches as PSU'sBarry Gorman was Alan Dawson's high school teacher and coach back in Ireland.
Penn State has defeated St. Francis, Gonzaga, CAA rival Hoftra and Hartford. Theirlone loss was to Cal-State Fullerton. The Nittany Lions have three players with at least three goals and three assists. They are Jason Yeisley, Corey Hertzog, andMatheus Braga. Goalkeeper Warren Gross has a 0.57 goals against average with three shutouts this season.
ODU and Penn State have met three times before. PSU beat the Monarchs in 1989 and 2007 while ODU won in 2001.
Through five games, Nane Joseph leads the Monarchs with two goals, one assist and five points. Ambane Emanuel, Bobby Foglesong and Steffen Rabben each have two goals. Freshman Shane Howard, this week's CAA Rookie of the Week leads the team with four assists.
In the goal, Evan Newton has a 0.60 goals against average with 17 saves and three shutouts.
As a team, ODU ranks third behind maryland and Virginia in the NSCAA Regional rankings. The Monarchs nine goals rank second to Towson in the CAA.
Nane Joseph ranks seventh in the CAA in total points with five, while Shane Howardleads the league in assists with four. Evan Newton is second in the CAA in goals against average at 0.60 and third in save percentage at .850.Prior to the game, the ODU Lady Monarchs host Radford at 6 p.m.ODU begins CAA play at home, next Friday against Delaware at 7 p.m.