By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Lehigh on Tuesday, the No.20 Nittany Lion men's soccer (6-3-1, 1-1) team found themselves on the wrong side of another last-minute goal on Saturday, this time in the 106th-minute of the second overtime against No. 10 Indiana (7-2-1, 2-0).

Both teams were scoreless after 100 minutes of play before the Hoosiers scored off a tipped pass and goal from Harrison Petts, handing Penn State its first loss at home this season.

"We certainly had plenty of opportunities to establish ourselves as the best team, but unfortunately we couldn't take advantage of it tonight," said head coach Bob Warming. "All credit to Indiana. They are champions and they battled right to the end."

Despite another late 1-0 loss Warming and his team will focus on the positives they can draw from battling the No. 10 team in the country. The defense, which has been led by senior Brian Forgue, limited Indiana's leading scorer Eriq Zavaleta to only one shot on goal.

"I thought Forgue and Eli (Dennis) did a great job taking care of the best center forward in the conference," said Warming. "I thought those two guys did a great job tonight and I couldn't be prouder."

The Nittany Lions had numerous opportunities in the second half to take the lead, especially from Marvin Ledgister and Hasani Sinclair, who both came off the bench. Warming said that the chances were there, but they couldn't capitalize. Senior midfielder Jacob Barron agreed.

"Sometimes it just doesn't go in," said Barron. "Today wasn't our day, but we will get back at it."

Positive vibes were very noticeable from players and coaches after the match, including Barron, who noted how skilled Indiana was, and the opportunity to get back on track in the Big Ten against Michigan on Saturday.

"Indiana is a really good team, they have a really good attacking front," said Barron. "We could have beat them, but it didn't go that way. We are going to continue to get better and get tougher and next game we will go to Michigan and start our win streak again."

Warming agreed as he acknowledged the progress his team is making, as well as the importance of a long layoff before the head to Ann Arbor for their third conference match of the season.

"We are making progress, we had plenty of chances to win the game tonight," said Warming. "That's the No. 10 team in the country and we are pretty close. We have a whole week before Michigan which is an extraordinary amount of time to train and to get some guys rested."

The Hoosiers now hold an advantage on Penn State, as they still are without a conference loss, leaving Warming with hopes for an Indiana setback to get Penn State back in the conference race.

With seven remaining matches, three of which are conference matches, the Nittany Lions still have time to get back in the Big Ten race and have motivation from their experiences from the 2011 season.

"We know it is a long season. These two games have motivated us because last year around this time we started letting down," said Barron. "There a lot of games left and we still have a good chance to make the tournament and we just have to stay positive."

Penn State heads to Ann Arbor on Saturday at 7 pm to face off against Michigan, before returning home for a three game homestand on Oct. 10, which begins with Akron.

By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - Twenty-three days. A lot of things happened during the time period of Sept. 2 to Sept. 25. Penn State football played four games, replacement referees were the talk of the National Football League and the No. 20 Penn State men's soccer team (6-2-1, 1-0) didn't allow one goal in 505 minutes and 56 seconds of game time. No, that last one is not a typo.

The streak, which is the longest shutout streak this year in the Big Ten, started in the 53rd minute against Georgetown on the second day of September and ended in the 89th minute of Tuesday's 1-0 loss against Lehigh.

Bob Warming's team has acknowledged their streak with hopes of re-starting it on Saturday against Indiana.

"Those are some great numbers," said senior defender Brian Forgue, who played every minute of the streak. "Unfortunately Tuesday we didn't get the stat that counted, which is the win, but we will start streaks like that again against Indiana on Saturday."

The Nittany Lions shut out West Virginia, Albany, Adelphi and Wisconsin during the streak, going 3-0-1 while scoring a combined five goals. Warming credits his back line, but also the team as a whole for playing complete team defense.

"We defend with 11 players. We attack with 11 players," said Warming. "We wouldn't be in this kind of streak that we had without the great pressure our forwards put on. Its all credit to the 10 players in front of the goal keeper and what they are doing."

Three of the four defenders that make up the back line for Penn State were not starters last year, including Forgue, junior Martin Seiler and freshman Shane Campbell. The lone returner, John Gallagher, played every minute except one during the streak.

Gallagher is the veteran of the back four, but has seen his role emerge as more of an attacker in the 2012 season, which has left the three newcomers to take over and anchor the back line for Penn State.

"I think they have made a lot of progress as a group," said Warming. "They are great when they get criticized in film and don't take it personally and use it as something they want to get better on."

The improvement has been clear since the 2-1 loss to Georgetown and the development of not only the Nittany Lion back line, but also the team as a whole has played a big part in their defensive successes.

Seiler believes that the team's improvement began when the decided to adjust their style of play and became comfortable with keeping the ball on the ground, instead of in the air.

"At the beginning of the season we kicked a lot more balls up top and in the air," said Seiler. "Now we are focusing on building the game from our goal keeper playing the ball to our center backs and outside backs and getting it through the middle."

Communication has been a focal point for Forgue and the defense since day one, and he said that the development of their mentality of working as a group has allowed them to focus on the simple things of playing good defense.

"There is no individual on the back line," said Forgue. "You work as a unit, as a group. You can't have any individuals and that is really apparent right now."

Seiler, Forgue and Warming all stressed the importance of continuing their defensive success against No. 10 Indiana (6-2-1, 1-0) on Saturday, but they know Indiana is a completely different team than those they have played in the past.

Indiana has scored 15 goals this season, which leads the Big Ten; led by sophomore Eriq Zavaleta's seven. Penn State will have to adjust to the 4-2-3-1 system that the Hoosiers will bring to Jeffery Field.

"There is only one true guy up there," said Warming. "You can't let that one guy determine where you set your back line. Have to keep the back line connected to the midfield. It will be a big challenge for our guys but we are really looking forward to it."

Penn State and Indiana have split their last 10 meetings, including a 1-0 victory for the Hoosiers last season. The Nittany Lions and their defense hope to avenge that loss Saturday at 7 p.m. at Jeffery Field.

By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After being without one of the most important pieces of its offense, Penn State (5-1-1) welcomed transfer junior Mikey Minutillo back to the soccer field on Friday against Albany (2-4-0).

Minutillo made his presence felt right almost immediately has he set up the teams' leading goal scorer Julian Cardona for his fifth goal of the season in the 24th minute.

"Julian has only scored goals when Mikey is in the game," said head coach Bob Warming. "Mikey does so much work in the top and his runs are so intelligent and he pressures so well defensively."

Cardona's goal surpassed his career high of four and he has only played seven games thus far this season. It was his last goal since Minutillo went out with a knee injury on August 27.

The goal was set up by Minutillo, but also a great fake from senior forward Minh Vu allowing Cardona to put a move on the only defender covering him at the top of the box.

"Mikey had the ball, took a guy to the end line and played the ball back and outside of the split and I saw him coming so I stayed behind the defense," said Cardona. "I yelled to Minh to dummy it and he had a sick dummy and took a defender with him. I got the ball faked with my left and turned to my right and luckily it went in."

Warming's squad played fast in the first half against Albany in their first game action in over a week. In what Warming called some of the best soccer the team played all year, the passing was what made the team successful in the first half.

In the second half, however, the team slowed down, but by no means was it because they weren't well rested.

"If anything we weren't game sharp by having that much time off," said Warming. "We faded in the second half and we had a few cramps."

Less than 48 hours later, Penn State had to put the cramps behind them as they hosted Adelphi (1-6-0) right after the women's team defeated ranked Wisconsin at Jeffery Field.

It only took just under 27 minutes for the Nittany Lions to get on the board, and once again Minutillo, Cardona and Vu were all involved. This time however, it was Cardona setting up Minutillo for his first goal in blue and white.

"It was fitting today that Julian won a tackle to put Mikey in for the goal," said Warming. "Julian won that tackle, got the ball through to Mikey and he got a great goal out of it."

Minutillo was short for words about his first career goal, but credited his teammate Cardona for setting him up for the goal to give his team a 1-0 lead.

"It feels awesome," said Minutillo. "I have to thank Julian for it, he set me up pretty nice."

The day featured a lot of firsts for Penn State. Warming subbed in 12 different players, which is a season high, including Kelton Cheney who scored his first goal of his young Penn State career.

Cheney, a State College native, was emotional after the game has his parents and grandparents were in attendance to see his first career goal. The goal came off of an assist from fellow freshman Kyle MacDonald, who recorded his first career point.

"It has just been fun playing and getting my first goal," said Cheney. "Kyle gave me a great ball and I was able to score."

His coach knew how big of a goal it was for him to get at home, especially since this moment was over ten years in the making.

"Here's a kid that grew up in State College started coming to games when he was seven years old and here he is a decade later and gets a chance to score his first goal. I am just so happy for him."

Penn State's two wins this weekend kept them undefeated at home, but they won't return back to Jeffery Field until September 29 as they head to Wisconsin on Friday for their first Big Ten match of the season.

By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In today's day and age in sports, seeing junior college (JUCO) athletes transfer to division one programs isn't too uncommon. However, to have a player that is a JUCO transfer that attended a two-year mission trip to Brazil, is married and went from bench player to starter at a division one school is unheard of. Welcome to the life of senior midfielder Daniel Burnham.

Burnham, native of Boise, Idaho, joined the Nittany Lions in 2010 where he only started two games all season. Two seasons later, he is a starter and one of the main catalysts of the Nittany Lion offense.

"When Coach Warming came in and took over I didn't realize how much I needed to improve," said Burnham. "He was the one that helped me do that. He wants you to excel and through my sophomore and junior year I worked on passing and retention of the ball and when I came in senior year I had more confidence and was ready to play."

The 25-year-old senior credits his success not only to his coach, but also to his wife.

"The mission trip helped me know what I stand for as a person and helped me know who I am as a person," said Burnham. "A little over a year ago I got married and my wife has helped me become a better person, soccer player, and student."

Burnham said that through all of his struggles, his wife was the one that kept him going and kept him on a path of success.

"Every time I come home with doubts and with thinking that I want to not try as hard, she has always built me back up and told me this is what I am supposed to be doing," said Burnham. "I would attribute my improvement to my wife and she's been the one that has told me to keep going."

On the field, his teammates and coaches see him among one of the leaders of an upstart Nittany Lion team that is currently 3-1-1 in the early 2012 season. Fellow senior John Gallagher credits the person Burnham is to his ability to be a good leader on and off the field.

"If you are a good person people are going to respect you," said Gallagher. "If he tells you to do something on the field, all the younger guys respect him and listen to him and it translates to him on the field being a good leader because he is a good person off the field and a good person on the field."

His coach acknowledged the importance of having a leader like Burnham on the field, especially with younger players. Burnham has been the first one to practice and the last one to leave, even throughout his senior season.

Warming said by having a guy like Burnham on the team, it gives freshman no excuse to not work just as hard if there is a senior putting in the maximum effort to help the team succeed.

"I feel like I just want to go out and be a leader and be there when they need me and on the field do anything to score goals and play defense," said Burnham. "We all know we can be a great team if we do those things."

Looking back, Burnham and his coaches and teammates know it took a lot for his game to develop at the division one level. Still, he credits his coach for preparing him for a stellar senior season.

"Biggest thing for me with my relationship with him is that he (Warming) showed me he cared about my successes and after last season I got support from him as a coach. He wants all of us to succeed whether they are starters, bench or not playing," said Burnham.

Warming, however, disagreed and said he had little to do with the success of Burnham, it is just the maturity and dedication of his senior forward that has elevated his play.

"In my experience with the guys that I have had that have made that kind of improvement, 99.9 percent it is because of them," said Warming. ""For me, its really maturity that he has. Even if he doesn't become what he wants to be, he is going to enjoy the process."

Off the soccer field, his teammates know that not only is he a good player, but he is also a good person and his leadership goes beyond the grass of Jeffery Field.

"He is just a great guy, real into his religion and everything like that so it is awesome. He is just an overall good person," said Gallagher. "If you ever need advice he is always a good person to go to."

Burnham and the Nittany Lions have their first of two weekend home games starting Friday against Albany at 7 p.m. and Sunday against Adelphi at 3:30 p.m., both at Jeffery Field.

By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With 10 minutes to go in regulation Penn State knew Big East foe West Virginia was going to turn on the heat through the air. After making adjustments to counter the Mountaineer air attack, the Nittany Lions had numerous opportunities to break the scoreless tie late in the second half.

Within 2:30 of game time, Penn State had three golden chances to score, but they could not connect.

Julian Cardona had a one on one opportunity denied by Mountaineer goal keeper Pat Eavenson, followed by two header chances from Kelton Cheney and Owen Griffith that went wide and high respectively.

Then, the pressure shifted to the Penn State defense as West Virginia changed the pace and pressed goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton, who was starting his first match after an injury that kept him sidelined for most of the first four matches this season.

Wolverton first stopped a Shadow Sebele shot in the 84^th minute and then helped the defense force another Sebele shot high to force overtime at Jeffery Field.

"Always as a goalie you don't really touch the ball for 78 minutes and then you are asked to make a big save and its just part of the game as a goalie and you just have to focus all the time," said Wolverton.

In the first and second overtimes chances were limited for both sides, but it was Wolverton once again that came through for Penn State by stopping a header attempt from Craig Stephens with less than three minutes left in the second overtime.

Wolverton credited a strong start in the first half to be prepared for a tight second half.

"You have to start strong in a game to get your confidence up especially with an injury and that really helped with the team and their confidence and they know I'm back to hopefully 100 percent," said Wolverton.

With the match ending in a draw, neither side was happy with the outcome, but head coach Bob Warming was satisfied with the team's effort in the second half and recognizes the job they did against a tough West Virginia team.

"In the second half I thought we played really well, we created a lot of chances and we got behind them more and got more crosses," said Warming. "All the credit to West Virginia, they are going to be a hard out this year."

Warming also touched on the play of Wolverton and how his coaching staff has helped the sophomore keeper return to full form after a long time away from the field with his injury.

"I think the big thing with Wolverton is that it's not like he was any faster than he was last year, it is just that Bo (Oshoniyi) is a great coach and has him playing high off his line so instead of starting inside the six yard box to get those balls," said Warming.

"He was starting at the penalty spot and a little bit higher and he had 6 or 7 less yards of ground to cover and he was getting on the end of all of those and making plays for us."

Penn State has the week off before a weekend two-game homestand against Albany on Friday at 7 p.m. and Adelphi on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - For the first time this season, Bob Warming and his team found themselves on the other side of the box score after a 2-1 loss at Georgetown on Sunday.

Penn State (3-1) came out slow in the first half and then played an impressive second half, in the eyes of their head coach.

"It wasn't that we were that bad, it was that they were really, really good," said Warming. "The thing I enjoyed about the team was that even though they were exhausted and that it was hot, they just fought like crazy in the second half to put themselves back in the game."

Now after a three day layoff the Nittany Lions will play host to another tough opponent in No. 22 ranked West Virginia (2-2). The Mountaineers have already faced off against defending national champs North Carolina and a top 20 team in Wake Forest.

The way West Virginia has battled against both of those opponents has alerted Warming and he knows the match won't be an easy one for his team.

"We haven't beat West Virginia since 1990 and that is a long time," he said. "They played UNC Chapel Hill who is undefeated this year and UNC had one shot in the first half at home. They are a pretty tough out."

For players like senior defender Brian Forgue, they will look back on the Georgetown loss and use what they learned about themselves to prepare for the Mountaineers.

"We showed what this team is capable of in terms of keeping the ball on the ground and flow of play and not losing our cool when we are down 1-0," said Forgue. "If anything it showed resiliency and I think that is a great quality to have in a successful team."

Senior midfielder Julian Cardona also learned from the way they played against Georgetown and said that the team must play a better first half to be successful in the second half.

"We can play with anybody we just have to have the right mindset starting the game," said Cardona.

West Virginia brings a very athletic team to Jeffery Field Thursday night and the ongoing improvement on the defensive side of the ball will be important for the Nittany Lions. With four new players on the defense, including a new goalkeeper in Emmanuel Martin, the transition wasn't going to be easy, but progress is being made.

"There is always things that we can work on," said Forgue. "We will get the communication down. It is certainly starting to pick up and that is a vital thing to being successful."

Warming acknowledged that the season is early and his defensive unit will not adjust right away, but the main positive is that they have only lost one game through the first four of a very early season.

"We just can't expect it to happen right away," said Warming. "Having said that, we have lost one game in seven now including the exhibition and the guys are doing okay."

The Penn State offense, which has scored eight goals in four games has been dominant on the offensive side of the ball and the success of their goal scorers, specifically Cardona, forward Danny Burnham and midfielder Minh Vu has helped the defense transition.

"Those three guys have put in the work and they certainly help us offensively in terms of production and work rate," said Forgue. "We need that especially against an opponent like West Virginia who is big, athletic so we are definitely going to need those guys to show up and all of our guys to show up, but those three will be pretty key."

By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Behind a crowd of 4,000 fans on Friday night at Jeffery Field, the men's soccer team turned in a 1-0 victory over Duquesne to start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2001. They then hit the road for a tough test at Georgetown where the inability to score late resulted in their first lost of the season with a final score of 2-1.

Friday night however, the Nittany Lions struggled a bit in the first half against Duquesne as the Dukes were able to spread out the Penn State offense, but head coach Bob Warming and his team were able to adjust in the second half.

"The first half was really ugly and not fun to watch," said Warming. "Once the defense got set and a little more spread out and kept the ball a little better and the second half was a lot of fun. We made the right adjustments at half time and played a little bit better."

Warming called it a chain reaction that produced a sloppy half of soccer, but once the center backs were able to spread out, the defense was able to play higher up on the field which resulted in more opportunities in the second half. However, forward John Gallagher said there was another important element at half time that resulted in the victory.

"We were feeling like it was the start of the game in the second half and we were feeling fresh and able to keep the ball and make them run by having them chase the ball the whole time," said Gallagher.

Gallagher and the rest of the Penn State offense's ability to spread the ball out in the second half turned into a huge corner kick opportunity halfway into the second half.

"I just lined up the ball and I have a set place where I look to put it right on top of the six yard box and Minh Vu was able to beat his guy to the ball and he got a great header," said Gallagher.

Vu had been around the ball constantly in the first two games and had another early opportunity in the first half on Friday, but was able to position himself well enough to finally get in the scoring column.

"I was in the post and there was a bigger guy in front of me so I just came all the way around and beat my guy to the ball," said Vu. "It feels good to score my third game in. I should have had a couple in the first two games but it feels good to put my first one in and now I have get a couple more now."

Prior to the Georgetown game Warming knew that his team would be confident after their 3-0 start and stressed the importance of being confident against a very good Georgetown team.

Georgetown dominated the ball on Sunday with 20 shots as opposed to the eight from Penn State and was able to force Penn State into a bad position as a Jimmy Nealis shot hit off of the post and hit a Nittany Lion defender and rolled into the net.

Only seven minutes into the second half Penn State was able to respond after Akil Howard set up Marvin Ledgister for a goal off of a crossing pass from Howard.

Georgetown then responded nearly two minutes later after another Georgetown shot hit off of the post giving the Hoyas the 2-1 lead. They never gave it back after stout defense and goaltending denied Hasani Sinclair and Julian Cardona from two golden opportunities within the last five minutes handing Penn State their first loss of the season.

Penn State returns home on Thursday as it welcomes West Virginia to Jeffrey Field at 7 p.m.

By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Nittany Lion men's soccer head coach Bob Warming and his team feel confident going into a weekend featuring two tough tests.

The Nittany Lions host Duquesne Friday night at 8 p.m. at Jeffery Field and then travel to Washington D.C., on Sunday to face off against a tough Georgetown team in their first road match of the season.

The Lion offense has come out of the gate red hot, scoring six goals in its' first two games, four of which have been off the foot of senior midfielder Julian Cardona. Warming said that the confidence of his offensive unit will be key for them this weekend.

"Attacking and scoring goals develops confidence and confidence develops an opportunity to score more goals," said Warming. "Last year we weren't scoring goals so we lost confidence and now the guys are really confident and it is going to give us a great opportunity to keep this thing going."

Cardona, along with senior forward Danny Burnham have been offensive leaders for Penn State, but the ability for them to get other players involved has been another key in their improved goal scoring.

"Mikey Minutillo has been absolutely outstanding and I think the whole team has been absolutely outstanding in helping us create chances," said Warming. "Julian will be the first one to tell you it's not him that's creating all the chances it's the team ball rotation, ball movement and player movement that is creating chances."

Minutillo also noted the team's ability to be unselfish and credits his senior leader for their early successes.

"He (Cardona) is a great teammate and I wouldn't have it any other way up there," said Minutillo. "I love playing with him and he is definitely one of the best forwards in the country."

Defensively, however, Warming stressed the need for his back four defensive players to step up this weekend as they face two very athletic opponents. The Penn State offense has carried the defense, but improvement must be made in the eyes of their coach if they want to continue to have success.

Senior goalkeeper Emmanuel Martin will be a key player in the success of the defense if he can find a way to manage the back four, Warming said.

"It is game management. Managing those back four guys in front of him is his primary responsibility," said Warming. "The best goal keepers in the country don't have to make a lot of saves because they manage the game, so the less saves he has to make the better he is managing the players in front of him."

With a versatile Duquesne team coming to town Friday, Martin and the defense will have to find a way to counter the air attack of the Dukes on set pieces and long throws. If they foul Duquesne in dangerous situations, Warming said his team would put themselves in a bad position.

A similar situation looms with Georgetown on Sunday especially after they pulled out a surprise victory against pre-season favorite Virginia earlier this week.

"I love a lot of their players," said Warming. "They are loaded, they are deep and it is going to be a great challenge."

Minutillo agreed that both Georgetown and Duquesne had great talent, but he stressed the importance of staying focused on the task at hand.

"We have to win," said Minutillo. "We definitely need to come out of the Duquesne game with a win and then if we win against Georgetown I think we will ranked in the top 25."

By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After beating Stetson in its home opener on Saturday, Penn State (2-0) defeated Hartford (0-2), 3-2, Monday night at Jeffrey Field. Senior midfielder Julian Cardona, who scored two goals against Stetson, had another two-goal night to give the Nittany Lions their second win of the season.

Goal scoring was an issue throughout the 2011 campaign for Bob Warming's team, but has been their strong point through the first two games.

"We have played two teams in the first two games that we didn't beat last year and to get six goals at home and average three goals a game you are going to beat a lot of people," said coach Warming. "It is just the fact that the team is scoring a lot of goals and are enjoying themselves and its just terrific."

Cardona started the scoring in the first half with a goal from a one-on-one opportunity with Hartford goalkeeper Ville-Valtteri Tuumi, but the Hawks responded eight minutes later with a goal of their own sending the game tied into halftime.

"We made a lot of adjustments at the half," said Warming. "First halves are highly overrated, you will never win a game in the first half."

Penn State owned the time of possession in the second half with a number of opportunities to take the lead and then finally found a golden scoring chance when Cardona drew a penalty kick in the 80^th minute.

"I was confident," said Cardona.  "I practice PKs all the time and I'm confident to go any where in the goal. I was lucky the guy guessed the wrong way and it was real easy. "

Cardona's four goal start equals his season total from an injury-plagued junior season and now that he is healthy and rolling his coach is expecting big things throughout the 2012 season.

"I've seen Julian play for a really long time and last year unfortunately he was never healthy and when you are not healthy and not scoring goals mentally it gets even worse for you," said Warming. "Now that he is on fire right now and he's got a little swagger to him I think it's really going to help our team."

Only three minutes after the penalty kick goal, Owen Griffith added a decisive third goal off of a great assist from senior forward Daniel Burnham. Burnham, a former walk-on, scored the game-winning goal against Stetson and his coach believes he is getting ready for a breakout season.

"I've had a lot of players that have gone from walk-ons to stars and I'm thinking right now Danny Burnham might be the most improved player I've ever coached," said Warming. "His composure on the ball now is remarkable and his ball striking ability is terrific and he has become so much smarter of a soccer player and he knows it."

Burnham knows what he has to do on the field in order to supplement Cardona throughout this year and it surprisingly doesn't start on the offensive side of the ball.

"I have to stay focused and concentrate on what I need to do defensively and I think once I do those things the offense comes," said Burnham.

Although Hartford would respond with a goal late, the Nittany Lions offense propelled the team to start with two home wins on the season with a schedule that features nine remaining home matches.

Next on the schedule is Duquesne Friday night at 8 p.m. right after Football Eve and Warming and his team are looking for a big Penn State crowd to help them secure a very important third home victory.

"Friday night we are hoping that we will set the all time record of attendance in Jeffery field," said Warming. "I know Bill O'Brien is going to tell the people that are over at the football stadium to support the 'One Team' that is Penn State. Its not just football all of us are 'One Team'. I think we are going to have great fan attendance and put on a great show for everybody."

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Nittany Lion men's soccer head coach Bob Warming kicks off his third season at the helm of the program on Saturday at 7 p.m. when Penn State meets Stetson.

Saturday's matchup opens a terrific home schedule featuring 11 contests at Jeffrey Field.  The Nittany Lions are also home on Monday at 7 p.m. against Hartford as part of its opening weekend.  Penn State tallied a 1-0-2 record in its exhibition matchups, including a 2-2 tie against No. 9 Maryland on Monday.

GoPSUsports.com stopped by preseason practice to talk with Coach Warming and seniors Brian Forgue and John Gallagher to preview the 2012 season.  Take a look.

Follow GoPSUsports.com's Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony