MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 18-ranked West Virginia University men's soccer team concludes its two-match road trip by traveling to Penn State on Friday, Sept. 2. Kickoff at Jeffrey Field in University Park, Pennsylvania, is set for 7 p.m. ET.
 
Fans can follow along with all of the action with live stats, courtesy of gopsusports.com. Additionally, the match can be seen live on the subscription-based Big Ten Plus.
 
Friday's contest marks the 32nd meeting between the Mountaineers (1-1) and Nittany Lions (0-1-1). Penn State holds a 20-9-2 advantage in the all-time series, however WVU has gone 5-1-1 in the last seven matchups, dating back to 2006.
 
Last season, WVU topped PSU, 3-1, on Sept. 2, 2021, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown.
 
The Mountaineers are coming off a 3-0 loss at then-No. 7 Pitt on Aug. 29, at Ambrose Urbanic Field in Pittsburgh. The Panthers used three, first-half goals to aid them in the Backyard Brawl matchup. WVU tallied 10 shots, including five on goal, in the setback.
 
WVU sits at No. 18 in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25. The squad has now been ranked in 11 consecutive polls, dating back to Sept. 7, 2021.
 
Junior midfielder Ryan Crooks leads the Mountaineers with four shots on the young season, three of which were on goal. Senior midfielder Luke McCormick and junior forward Yutaro Tsukada each have registered three shots in the first two games of the year, while junior goalkeeper Jackson Lee has made four saves, including three against Pitt.
 
Third-year coach Dan Stratford has an overall career record of 80-11-12, including 19-7-7 with the Mountaineers. Of note, Stratford is 11-2-5 in nonconference matches at WVU.
 
West Virginia has lost back-to-back games just once in the Stratford era.
 
Penn State is led by fifth-year coach Jeff Cook, who helped the Nittany Lions to the 2021 Big Ten regular-season and tournament championships.
 
After finishing 13-7-1 a year ago, Penn State was voted No. 1 in the Big Ten preseason poll. So far, PSU tied Rhode Island, 1-1, on Aug. 25, to open the season, before it fell at Syracuse, 1-0, on Aug. 28.
 
Peter Mangione, the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, was selected to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List before the start of the season. Two others – Femi Awodesu and Seth Kuhn – joined Mangione on the Big Ten Players to Watch list.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.