State College, Pa. - June 22, 2001 - The Penn State men's soccer team has officially announced its 2001 schedule today. Nine home contests, including the annual Penn State Nike Soccer Classic, highlight the slate.

The Nittany Lions, under the direction of coach Barry Gorman, will play in two exhibitions before opening the season (at Woodbridge, Canada, on Aug. 18; and home vs. Syracuse on Aug. 21). Penn State will then host center-state rival Bucknell on Friday, Aug. 31, to officially open the season. Match time is set for 7 p.m. under the lights of Penn State's Jeffrey Field.

Penn State will once again host the Penn State Nike Soccer Classic, this time welcoming Ohio State, Boston College and Duquesne for the two-day event on Sept. 14 and 15. OSU will face BC in the event's first match on Friday at 5 p.m. Penn State will then face Duquesne at 7:15 p.m. The next day, Ohio State will face Duquesne at 5 p.m. and the Nittany Lions will face Boston College at 7:15 p.m. Other non-conference home dates include events with Villanova (Sept. 6, 7 p.m.), Hartwick (Oct. 26, 7 p.m.) and Lehigh (oct. 31, 7 p.m.).

The Big Ten slate has Penn State facing three conference schools at home. The Lions will host second-year unit Michigan on Sept. 9 at 2 p.m., Northwestern on Oct. 5 at 8 p.m., and Wisconsin on Oct. 7 at 1 p.m.

Big Ten road games include the annual clash with rival and national power Indiana (Sept. 28, 7 p.m.), at Big Ten Tournament Champion Ohio State (Oct. 14, p.m.) and at Michigan State (Oct. 21, 2:30 p.m.)

The non-conference road schedule features games at South Carolina (Sept. 2, 2 p.m.), at Cornell (Oct. 10, 7 p.m.), at American (Oct. 28, 2 p.m.), and at Old Dominion (Nov. 3, 7 p.m.). Penn State will also take part in the Ohio State Nike Classic. The Lions will face Southwest Missouri State on Oct. 21 and Creighton on Oct. 23. The Big Ten Championship Tournament will be held on Nov. 8-11 at Wisconsin.

 AUGUST Sat. 18 Woodbridge SC (Canada) (Exhib.) 7 p.m. Wed. 22 SYRACUSE (Exhibition) 5 p.m. Fri. 31 BUCKNELL 7 p.m. SEPTEMBER Sun. 2 at South Carolina 2 p.m. Thur. 6 VILLANOVA 7 p.m. Sun. 9 MICHIGAN* 2 p.m. Penn State Nike Classic Fri. 14 Boston College vs. Ohio State 5 p.m. PENN STATE vs. DUQUESNE 7:15 p.m. Sat. 15 Duquesne vs. Ohio State 5 p.m. PENN STATE vs. BOSTON COLLEGE 7:15 p.m. Ohio State Nike Classic Fri. 21 PENN STATE vs. SW MISSORI ST. 3 p.m. Ohio State vs. Creighton 5 p.m. Sat. 23 PENN STATE vs. CREIGHTON 12 p.m. Ohio State vs. SW Missouri St. 2 p.m. Fri. 28 at Indiana* 7 p.m. OCTOBER Fri. 5 NORTHWESTERN* 8 p.m. Sun. 7 WISCONSIN* 1 p.m. Wed. 10 at Cornell 7 p.m. Sun. 14 at Ohio State* 2 p.m. Sun. 21 at Michigan State* 2:30 p.m. Fri. 26 HARTWICK (Senior Night) 7 p.m. Sun. 28 at American 2 p.m. Wed. 31 LEHIGH 7 p.m. NOVEMBER Sat. 3 at Old Dominion 7 p.m. T-S 8-11 Big Ten Championships at Wisconsin * Big Ten Matches o Times local to site.