UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; October 30, 2006 - The fourth-seeded Penn State men¡¯s soccer team (6-10-2, 3-3-0) will begin defense of its 2005 conference title on Thurs., Nov. 2 when it meets No. 5 seed Northwestern (11-6-0, 2-4-0) in a 10:30 a.m. first round match-up at the 2006 Big Ten Championship. Hosted by The Ohio State University, all tournament games will take place on the Columbus, Ohio campus at the home of the Buckeyes, Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

The Nittany Lions possess a dominating 19-1-1 record in the all-time series with the Wildcats, including this season¡¯s 2-1 victory over then-No. 14 Northwestern on Sept. 24 in Evanston, Ill. Freshman Frank Costigliola (Dix Hills, N.Y.) and sophomore Barkley Miller (New Freedom, Pa.) netted goals to lead Penn State to the conference win. The Nittany Lions lone setback to the Wildcats in program history was a 1-0 overtime loss at the 2004 Big Ten Championship in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Should Penn State claim a victory against Northwestern, it will advance to face archrival Indiana, the championship¡¯s No. 1 seed, in a semifinal match-up on Fri, Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. The Nittany Lions defeated the Hoosiers, 1-0, in University Park on Oct. 20 in front of a live national television audience, their third straight win in the series.

Penn State concluded the regular season by suffering two tough 1-0 setbacks to No. 14 Lehigh and Michigan. In a double-overtime defensive battle with Lehigh at Jeffrey Field on Oct. 25, the Lions fell in the 102nd minute when the Mountain Hawks found net off a two-man breakaway. On Oct. 28 in Ann Arbor, Michigan took advantage when Penn State defender Geordie MacNeill (Richmond Hill, Ont.) left the game with an injury early in the second half, scoring the game winner a few minutes later.

Seniors Simon Omekanda (Rochester Hills, Mich.), Jeff Chambers (Christiana, Pa.), and David Gray (Lemont, Pa.) spearhead the Penn State attack, accounting for 15 of the Nittany Lions¡¯ 22 points in the final six regular season games. Omekanda is the team¡¯s top offensive threat, leading Penn State in nearly every offensive category, including goals (4), assists (4), points (12), shots (54), shots on goal (26), and game-winning goals (2). He has totaled 19 goals as a Nittany Lion and his 26 career assists places him sixth on Penn State¡¯s all-time list. Chambers owns at least a share of second on the team in goals (2), assists (3), points (7), and shots (33). Gray, ordinarily a key member of the Nittany Lion defense, is a surprise contributor to the offense. With the plague of injuries that have decimated the Penn State front line this season, he has taken on an expanded role in the attack, responding with two goals.

Junior goalkeeper Conrad Taylor (Colorado Springs, Colo.) has been one of the few constants this season, as he has been throughout his three years at Penn State. Taylor has started every game of his collegiate career, a streak of 62 consecutive contests. He has not missed a minute of playing time since earning a spot in the starting line-up in the first game of his freshman year, a total of over 5,950 minutes. With 21 career shutouts, Taylor currently sits in third place on Penn State¡¯s career shutouts list, just 7.25 behind all-time leader Greg Kenney. Helping Taylor anchor the Nittany Lion defense is a gifted group of backs that includes senior co-captain Markku Viitanen (Pirkkala, Finland), juniors Stephen Reihner (Washington, Pa.) and Geordie MacNeill, and sophomore Ryan Badaracco (Wexler, Pa.).

In his 19th season at the helm of the Nittany Lion men¡¯s soccer program is head coach Barry Gorman. Penn State¡¯s all-time winningest head coach with 243 career victories, he has compiled a 21-10-3 record in Big Ten championship play. Gorman has guided Penn State to three Big Ten titles and 12 NCAA Championship appearances.

Northwestern enters its first round championship contest with Penn State coming off a 1-0 victory over No. 24 Northern Illinois on Oct. 27, its only win over a ranked opponent this season. The Wildcats fell to No. 18 Santa Clara, 2-0, on Sept. 2 and to No. 10 Illinois-Chicago, 1-0, on Oct. 11. Northwestern began the season winners of seven of its first eight games, but have split the final eight, going 4-4.

The Northwestern offense boasts three double-digit point scorers in David Roth (18), Brad North (14), and Carl Pett (10). Roth leads the Wildcats and is tied for tops in the Big Ten with seven goals, a total that includes a team-high three game winners. With six goals, North gives Northwestern a legitimate dual scoring threat. Pett has tallied a team- and conference-high eight assists in 2006.

On the defensive end, Will Briley and Justin Pines have shared time in goal this season for the Wildcats. Briley has compiled a 1.02 goals against average and an 8-6-0 record with three shutouts. Pines has played in seven games, recording three wins against no losses. He possesses a 0.42 goals against average and has registered one shutout.

Follow Penn State as it seeks its fourth Big Ten Championship over the Internet with live stats and instant scoring updates from GameTracker. Find a link on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.

The Thursday morning Penn State-Northwestern match-up kicks off a day of Big Ten championship soccer action that will also feature No. 3 seed Wisconsin taking on sixth-seeded Michigan at 1:30 p.m. and No. 2 seed Ohio State meeting seventh-seeded Michigan State at 4:30 p.m. The winners will square off in a second semifinal game at 7 p.m. on Friday. The 2006 Big Ten Championship title contest, scheduled for noon on Sun., Nov. 5, will be broadcast to a live national television audience on College Sports Television (CSTV).

For more information on Nittany Lion men's soccer, visit the official website of Penn State athletics at www.GoPSUsports.com.