10 I Wednesday, Nov. 17,2010
Lions soccer looks to stay fresh at NCAAs
By Mike Still
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
The never-ending grind of
playing 21 games over the course
of 12 weeks takes a toll on the
body.
So is the case UCW)e
for the Penn MEN S
State men’s soc- SOCCER
cer team, the No. ===
15 seed in the
NCAA tournament and the Big
Ten tournament runner-up.
That conference tournament
held last weekend at Jeffrey
Field, in which the Lions
played three games in four days,
did a number on the team, physi
cally.
Obviously I’m a little tired,”
Braga sets record, shows ability in tournament
By Andrew Robinson
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Nobody is quite sure how that
ball stayed in.
Maybe it was magic, like Bob
Warming suggested, maybe it
was a divot in the usually flawless
Jeffrey Field grass or maybe it
was some freak shifting of the
planet's magnetic poles.
Whatever it was, the ball that
Matheus Braga threaded down
the sideline last Thursday night
cemented what most people
already knew Penn State’s
senior midfielder from Brazil is a
gifted player.
To Warming, who is in his 33rd
year of coaching but just his first
with Braga, the senior has
already earned a place among
the most talented players he has
ever coached. Actually, gifted
was the wrong word, because
Warming sees Braga as some
thing more.
I d go beyond the best player
on the team, he is a soccer genius
in a lot of things he does,”
Warming said. “He’s taught
every player on our team some
thing this year and I think that’s
Women’s
volleyball
From Page 8.
hitter Emily Danks, who possess
es one of the best serves in the
nation.
Danks is ranked second in
Division I having .64 aces per set.
While the Buckeyes have some
dangerous players, they’ll be
going up against a Penn State
team that senior Alyssa D’Errico
said is hitting its stride. D’Errico
said the midweek match-up is
tough for both teams to prepare
for, but the Lions are excited to
play again.
“Every match that we head into,
we know what’s on the line,”
DErrico said.
“It’s just that aggressive
approach and kind of wanting to
win every game and wanting to
show people around the country,
before it gets to the tournament,
what this team’s all about and
Ohio State’s first.”
D’Errico said the Lions may feel
a little more comfortable with
Ohio State because the current
Penn State lineup is similar
Molinaro
From Page 8.
sophomore Josh Roosa, 8-4, but
fell to Lehigh’s Joey Napoli, 9-7, in
Sunday's home opener.
"He's been wrestling tough,”
Molinaro said. "He has represent
ed Penn State and the 141-pound
weight class well.”
While English has taken his
starting role and performed well,
he said he wants Molinaro to get
fully healthy as soon as possible.
This weekend, the Nittany Lions
will participate in the annual
Sprawl and Brawl duals in
Binghamton, N.Y.
Penn State will have three con
secutive duals against Harvard,
West Virginia and No. 24 Rutgers.
While Molinaro said he plans to
wrestle this weekend, he knows
realistically, he will not be able to
go in all three matches.
"I’m training like I will be the
starter,” English said. “I feel realty
comfortable, and I have been
working really hard.”
Paterno
From Page 8.
will make his third start of the sea
son, Paterno said.
“He had what you expect some
times with a young quarterback,”
Paterno said of McGloin’s per
formance. “He got a little careless
with the football, made up his
mind where he was going to throw
the football and threw it right into
the hands of the Ohio State kids.”
McGloin was a big part of the
senior Andy Parr said. “I think
there’d be something wrong with
me if I wasn’t a little tired right
now.”
Though Parr
and the Nittany
Lions fell to
Michigan 4-1 in
the Big Ten
championship
game, their 13-7-1
record this sea
son earned them Warming
a first-round bye
and a home game in the NCAA
tournament.
The Lions would have had to
play this Thursday had they not
earned one of the tournament’s
top-16 seeds.
Instead, Penn State will play
also the mark of a great team
mate.”
With his two assists against
Northwestern last Thursday,
Braga set Penn State’s single
season assist record, then added
to his total with a gorgeous cross
against Indiana on Friday night.
Despite having 15 assists, good
for second most in the country,
the senior is humble in recogni
tion of his mark.
“It’s awesome to come to this
university, especially for me com
ing from Brazil and I didn’t know
anything about Penn State before
coming here or anything about
these guys,” Braga said
Thursday. “It’s a great place to
be, I love these kids here, I told
Coach these are some of the best
guys I’ve played with. Just to
leave my name here at the
school, it’s awesome to be
remembered and hopefully
someone gets here next year and
can break that record.”
Braga’s Penn State career will
last for at least one more game
when the Lions take on either
Old Dominion or Virginia in the
second round of the NCAA
Tournament at 2 p.m. Sunday at
to the one that played in the Oct.
20 straight-set victory at
Columbus.
Despite the fact the Lions swept
Ohio State on the road, Rose said
tonight’s match certainly isn’t a
given.
“Everybody is a relevant oppo
nent, and you have to take each of
them seriously,” Rose said. “It
doesn’t make a difference if you
won earlier because one doesn’t
impact the other.”
While previous matches don’t
hold any importance in tonight’s
match-up, each remaining confer
ence match could potentially have
a big impact on determining the
conference champion at the end of
the year.
D’Errico said even though Penn
State just beat Illinois, both teams
are sitting in the same position.
One slip up could prove to be very
costly.
“Just knowing that we’re a cou
ple of games out of third place, let
alone one game away from being
out of first place, that’s tough for
any team,” D’Errico said. “You
have.to know that every game, for
sure, matters. Every match mat
ters.”
To e-mail reporter: nnlsl3B@psu.edu
During practice on Tuesday,
Molinaro ran without a noticeable
limp, and said as far as his body
goes, he will be ready to wrestle
this weekend. Sanderson said get
ting back onto the mat is a two
part process Molinaro’s body
will have to be realty to go, and the
same will hold true for his mind.
“Molinaro is a powerful
wrestler,” Sanderson said. "He
needs to feel comfortable in situa
tions where he will have to drive
from his feet.”
Sanderson said he was consid
ering putting Molinaro out on the
mat last weekend, but added that
he felt Molinaro wasn’t quite
there. Sanderson has faith
English will continue to perform
well, no matter how long it takes
Molinaro to heal.
“English is a tough competitor,”
Sanderson said. “The more time
he sees on the mat, the better he
gets. I think he learned a little
about the way he wants to com
pete against Lehigh.”
To e-mail reporter: bmgso94@psu.edu
reason why the Lions turned in
“five really good quarters” dating
back to the second quarter of the
Northwestern game, Paterno
said.
The team did not practice
Monday because Paterno sensed
the group was tired from the five
successful quarters and “didn’t
look like we had the bounce that
we had.”
But McGloin’s ability to bounce
back and move on after throwing
two interceptions against Ohio
State is something Paterno will be
SPORTS
the winner of Virginia and Old
Dominion at 2 p.m. Sunday, and
the players couldn’t be more
grateful to have this week off
from competition.
“At this point in the year we’re
all in shape, we all know the sys
tem we’re playing in,” co-captain
Drew Cost said.
“We just need to have our legs
under us and be able to come out
with a lot of energy and intensity
at home.”
All year, coach Bob Warming
has been stressing to his players
the importance of resting up and
taking care of their bodies in the
days off from games.
Warming encourages his team
to always keep its fluid intake up,
eat well and to make the most of
Jeffrey Field. Braga, as well as
the rest of his teammates, is hop
ing for a deep tournament run
and at least a College Cup
appearance.
just getting to Penn State was
a challenge for Braga. Three
years ago, he spoke no English
and had to pass a proficiency test
before he would be allowed to
play soccer in the United States.
With help of former teammate
Diego Correa, Braga was able to
pass the test and now speaks
English very well despite the
occasional mix-up
Happy-go-lucky by nature,
Braga's upbeat attitude is some
thing his roommate, senior co
captain Andres Casais, has come
to know quite well.
“He's just a happy person,
man. He's the type of person that
gets along with everybody,”
Casais said.
“But at the same time, he’s got
a really strong personality. He’s
one of the oldest players on our
team and it shows his maturity.
He has a really good philosophy
on life and I’m really lucky to
have him as a friend.”
Casais said Braga is a game-
Men’s
basketball
From Page 8.
out why the team missed so
many three-pointers.
Penn State finished the night 1-
for-21 from three-point range.
The lone basket was actually the
first score of the game, from
Jackson in the opening minute.
“We were actually on fire in
warmups,” Brooks said, with a
grin.
“I don’t know, but since we
weren’t hitting shots from the
perimeter, I guess we made up
for it on the defensive end. We
tried to just stop them from scor
ing since we couldn’t hit any of
the outside jump shots.”
That game plan proved to be
effective in the Lions’ second
game of the season.
In the postgame press confer
ence, St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli
singled his players out for their
lack of offensive production.
Martelli used 11 different play
ers in the first ten minutes alone,
as the Hawks (0-2) struggled to
get anything going.
Brooks
From Page 8.
out a roar to the Bryce Jordan
Center fans, which returned the
favor with an even louder cheer
after being given a reason to get
out of their seats for the first time
all game.
Just two minutes later, Brooks
took a pass from D.J. Jackson
and dunked it right on top of the
Hawks’ Carl Baptiste, nearly
coming down on top of the sopho
more forward.
"Some things happened in the
last game that kind of carried
over, the thing about me and DJ
not playing aggressive coming
out," Brooks said. “That was
something that was different
tonight. I was trying to be as
aggressive as I could.”
That aggression led to career
bests throughout the stat sheet
for Brooks.
The senior forward finished
with a career-high 18 points and
tied career highs in rebounds
paying close attention to.
“Where McGloin goes from
there is part of the process of
maturing as a quarterback,”
Paterno said.
Unpredictabe Hoosiers
While Indiana has yet to win a
conference game this season,
Paterno isn’t taking the team too
lightly.
The Hoosiers nearly beat lowa,
yet were blown out by Wisconsin
last weekend, and though the
Badgers put up 83 points on the
the knowledge the training staff
has to offer.
“It’s everything,” Warming
said of recovering properly. “The
good news is the guys have prac
ticed it a lot. It’s not like all of
sudden we’re saying, ‘OK, make
sure you get rest now.’ The guys
have done a good job of faking
care of themselves.”
One of the results of faking
such good care of themselves
throughout the season is that the
Lions have very few injuries on
the team.
Warming said his players have
also been smart enough to avoid
potentially dangerous tackles
and situations on the field.
One player who has been bat
tling injuries this season is Cost.
changer and is the type of person
who can accomplish any goal he
sets his mind to. Casais said
without Braga’s playmaking, the
Lions wouldn’t have had the suc
cess they did this year and added
he was very happy to see Braga
set the record last week.
But as easygoing as Braga can
be off the field, once he’s in a
game, the inner Brazilian soccer
mentality takes over. While he
starts on the left wing, by the
time the game’s over, the senior
has left his trail on the left side,
right side, middle, final third and
even on the defensive end of the
field.
Though his passing, corner
kick ability and crosses have
been the catalysts of several
Penn State goals this year,
Braga’s one-on-one skills have
been just as important for the
Lions. The Brazilian has taken on
countless defenders and beaten
most of them with one of his deep
array of moves.
Add to that the senior’s five
goals, second on the team behind
Hertzog’s 17, and Braga is a com
plete offensive player. While none
of his goals have been game-win-
“We were actually on fire in warmups. I don’t
know, but since we weren’t hitting shots from
the perimeter, I guess we made up for it on
the defensive end. We tried to just stop them
from scoring”
St. Joe’s ended the first half
shooting a mere 20 percent from
the field.
The Hawks finished the game
with a 34.5 shooting percentage,
but hovered under 30 percent for
most of the night.
The last time the Hawks shot
under 30 percent in a game was
November, 2008 in a loss to then-
No. 6 Texas.
“We were abysmal on offense
in the first half,” Martelli said
Tuesday.
“We didn’t read the floor prop
erly.”
The coach said he wrote only
one thing on the board during
halftime: “Act like you belong out
there.”
That’s because his players
limped into the break.
With the score knotted at 17,
“[Brooks] is helping our team tremendously.
He’s taking so much pressure off me. Jeff
helped us out and had a big night”
(nine) and field goals made
(seven).
“He’s helping our team
tremendously. He’s taking so
much pressure off me,” Battle
said.
“If you look at last year, if you
look at this stat sheet and a game
like this, we probably lose by 15-
20 points. Jeff helped us out and
had a big night.”
The most notable stat for
Brooks is that all 18 of his points
came in the paint. An athletic for
ward at 6-fbot-8 and 215 pounds,
Brooks has sometimes relied too
much on the perimeter. Against
the Hawks, Brooks attacked the
basket.
Early in the second quarter,
Brooks followed a Jackson miss
Hoosiers, Paterno said he expects
Indiana to be ready Saturday.
He said he’s looked at the film
from the Hoosiers’ game against
the Hawkeyes, but after the
Badgers went up by 30 or 40
points, he turned the game off.
“I was really impressed that
they went toe-to-toe with lowa,”
Paterno said.
“They went at it and they were a
good looking football team against
Iowa”
But Paterno didn’t want to
answer the question about
The Daily Collegian
"Having suffered an injury to
his left foot before the Lions’
game against Michigan State on
Oct. 10, Cost can still feel
occasional pain and reaggravat
ed the injury against Infflana on
Nov. 12.
With ample time off this week,
Cost will do the best he can to let
his foot heal.
However, he also knows the
season is on the line, and injuries
can wait until the offseason.
“It’s getting better and doesn't
really hurt all that much any
more,” Cost said.
“But you just go out there for
90 minutes and figure it out
later.”
To e-mail reporter: massB6o@psu.edu
ners, a few, like his equalizing
volleys against Michigan State
and Ohio State, have swung
games in Penn State's favor.
“Matheus is the most impor
tant player on our team,"
Hertzog said Thursday. "He sees
the game, plays the ball, scores
goals, gets assists, does every
thing for us. Him breaking that
record, it's great. It'll always be
here.”
To e-mail reporter: adrso79@psu.edu
Matheus Braga (7) kicks the ball
in a loss to No. 1 Akron earlier this
season at Jeffrey Field.
Penn State went on a 13-2 run in
the final 4:15 of the first half
highlighted by two dunks from
Brooks which got the crowd
involved and gave the Lions a
lead they would never relinquish.
Penn State didn’t come out of
the break nearly as strong, but it
didn’t matter to the team's
ability to win, at least.
The Lions tallied 16 defensive
rebounds in the second half, and
for DeChellis, that was good
enough.
“I’ve tried to emphasize to this
team that we have to defend and
rebound the ball and if we do that,
we’re going to give ourselves a
chance,” DeChellis said. "You
can’t let your offense affect your
defense.”
To e-mail reporter: exkso49@psu.edu
Talor Battle
with a tip-in on an offensive
rebound. Later, Brooks started at
the top of the key before driving
to the hoop and finishing with a
lay-up after a spin move in the
paint.
“He’s trying to pick his spots.
We try to show him tapes, here's
where you can drive, here's
where you can post up,"
DeChellis said. “He has
improved his perimeter shooting.
He’s got a nice 15- to 17-foot jump
shot.
“He’s playing with a lot more
confidence, and this is a confi
dence game. When guys feel
good and feel like they’re playing
well, it’s a little easier task”
To e-mail reporter: Jpss226@psu.edu
whether or not the Badgers ran up
the score on Indiana.
“I’m not going to get into the
other part of it,” he said.
Notes: The status of freshman
running back Silas Redd, who was
cited for disorderly conduct
Monday morning after urinating
near the Agricultural Engineering
Building, remains unknown.
When asked if Redd will play
Saturday, Paterno said, “We’ll find
out”
To e-mail reporter: aass22o@psu.edu
Jeff Brooks