Posts tagged ‘Men’s soccer’
Hurry Up and Vote for Jason Yeisley!
We profiled him in our Sept/Oct issue, and now that his final college season is winding down, we’d like to give Jason Yeisley one last push toward the spotlight. The Nittany Lion senior, who came back from missing the better part of three seasons with a succession of injuries, has had a terrific year in helping the Penn State soccer team to a record of 11-6-2 and a meeting this afternoon with Michigan State in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament.
Jason is also a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, a very cool honor that recognizes excellence on and off the field. I’m a homer on this one, but given what he’s overcome, Jason makes a great candidate for the award. And you can help him win it, by voting for him here. There’s only a couple of days left, and you can vote once a day.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
XC Marks the Spot for a Great PSU Sports Weekend
I knew the email would be waiting for me this morning, and so it was: A question from my Alumni Association colleague (and former Nittany Lion distance runner) Jayson Jackson ’99, wondering why I hadn’t already blogged about the women’s cross country team claiming its first Big Ten Conference title.
Here you go, Jay.
Led by senior Bridget Franek, who torched the 6,000-meter Blue/White course Sunday with a winning time of 20:03, the host Nittany Lion women edged runner-up Illinois to capture the conference crown. It was a great showing on a weekend full of them by Penn State student-athletes. Running through the highlights:
-The men’s soccer team moved into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten standings with a 2-1 win Saturday over Wisconsin. It’s been a rough couple of years for Coach Barry Gorman’s squad, but now that they’ve finally had some luck avoiding injuries, they’re reminding the rest of the league what they’re capable of.
-The women’s soccer team seems fully recovered from its slow start to the season; they’re unbeaten in eight games after Sunday’s 4-0 thrashing of visiting Purdue. I was there, and was lucky enough to see one of the nicest goals I’ve ever seen in person, at any level of soccer.
With Penn State up 2-0 early in the second half, senior left back Tara Davies made a great overlapping run, tearing nearly the entire length of the field from the left, then lofting a shot from virtually no angle into the far corner of the Purdue net. Everyone at Jeffrey Field, including the players (not least the unlucky Purdue goalkeeper) looked momentarily shocked before the crowd erupted in cheers. Davies celebrated the goal — the first of her college career, coming in her final regular-season home game — with a flipping summersault before being mobbed by her teammates.
Junior Danielle Toney, a player more accustomed to scoring, tallied her 11th and 12th goals of the season to claim the Big Ten scoring lead.
-As Lori and Jessie already documented, the top-ranked women’s volleyball team extended its own NCAA record Friday with its 88th straight victory, a 3-0 sweep of Minnesota.
-And after a slow start, the football team looked pretty good Saturday at Northwestern. Ohio State is next. The tents at Paternoville should be popping up shortly…
Ryan Jones, senior editor
As Predicted, Jason Yeisley Is Back
If you’ve seen our September/October issue — and if you’re an Alumni Association member, you’ve hopefully received it by now — you might have noticed our profile of Jason Yeisley on page 25. The senior forward on the men’s soccer team has spent the better part of two years trying to get healthy after a succession of tough-luck injuries, and while he’s been on the field for exhibition matches over the past few months, last night was his first chance to test his health in a game that counted.
He looked pretty great to us.
The Nittany Lions opened their season at Jeffrey Field on Tuesday night with a 5-0 win over Saint Francis, and we were psyched to see Jason hasn’t lost his touch. Playing his first collegiate game since October, 2007, Yeisley scored twice in the game’s first 20 minutes. From what we know of him, Jason seems like a pretty humble kid, but his brief, beaming celebration after he drilled home the opener seemed well-earned. After waiting so long to get back on the field, it was cool to see him savoring the moment.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Jason Yeisley’s Seasoned Perspective
Having suffered year-ending knee injuries during his sophomore and junior seasons, Jason Yeisley could be excused if he’d decided to bag this whole college soccer thing, finished school, and moved on with his life. Instead, the Nittany Lion forward — a first-team All-Big Ten honoree in 2007 despite missing nearly half of that season with the second of those blown knees — is back for a redshirt senior year. That’s great news for Barry Gorman’s squad.
Yeisley is giving Nittany Lion soccer fans something else to look forward to: The Season, a blog that debuted this week, in which Yeisley will write about offseason prep work (including the team’s trip to Brazil next month), his continued recovery from injury, and the season when it begins next fall. Should be worthing checking out.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
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