Tulsa v. Penn State (R)

spot on.. so if Cal pulls the upset at SMU, how will they decide who gets home field advantage in the next round?

 

Goalkeeper Dominic Cervi was the star as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions on penalty kicks in the second round of the NCAA tournament. After regulation and both overtime periods ended at 1-1, Tulsa converted all four of their penalty attempts while Brian Devlin and Anthony Calvano missed theirs for Penn State. The Nittany Lions definitely played the better match as they outshot Tulsa 9-3. But Tulsa got on the board first when an errant backpass resulted in a Ryan Pore breakaway, and the speedy junior calmly converted the goal midway through the first half. The lead held until halftime despite Chad Severs hitting the crossbar with a great header and Cervi making a tremendous save on a drive by Stephen Reihner. Penn State equalised on a Simon Omekanda breakaway early in the second half as they mounted tons of pressure. Cervi came through with numerous saves, however he was nearly caught off his line twice by David Walters. Both times Cervi made a finger-tip save that hit the post. Gabe Bernstein had a header hit the post as well as Cervi was under constant pressure.

The Nittany Lions ended up hitting the post a total of four time tonight and Cervi made seven saves for Tulsa. Tulsa showed great team speed and seemed content to counter attack all night. Pasi Karpinnen was ejected midway through the second half for Penn State for yellow card accumulation but despite playing a man down Penn State still had the most dangerous chances. It was not to be their night however and penalties decided their fate. It was a tough way for Chad Severs, Pasi Karpinnen, Gabe Bernstein, and Anthony Calvano to end their careers. A big "thank you" to those guys for a great run. Bernstein played tremendously well in his return from injury. I couldn't help but think "what if" he had been healthy as the huge senior defender missed all but six games this season due to injury. Freshmen Richard Costanzo and Stephen Reihner played very well for Penn State in difficult conditions, a wet pitch and temperatures in the 40s. A very exciting game, congrats to Tulsa and good luck next round.

Since the season is over for us Penn State fans, we can project a little to 2005. I expect the Nittany Lions to be very good next year as Big Ten Freshman of the Year Costanzo will probably play up top with Omekanda and Jeff Chambers will slide into his midfield role. Walters, Devlin, Lindemann, Viitanen, Reihner, and keeper Taylor all return so I expect good things in 2005! I hope the experience of playing in thirteen overtime games this year pays off next year. Thanks for a great season Penn State!

 

Pore certainly is fast and finishes cleanly. He really didn't get a chance to do too much, but then again in his few chances he scored a goal, a pretty good mark of a great goalscorer. As I said in my match report, Tulsa didn't generate too much offense, all three of their shots on goal came in the first half and they seemed content to counter attack with their great team speed. Pore and Karpinnen mixed it up a bit, several times they were jawing and pushing each other after plays. He played with some attitude which I like, and he certainly backs it up with great speed and clinical finishing. I'd love to see him play some more, maybe the Nittany Lions will get Tulsa to come to State College next year since PSU has traveled to their tournament in recent years. I don't know a thing about him, anyone have the scoop (i.e. youth national picture, MLS prospect via PRO-40, etc.) on Ryan Pore? He was one of the more impressive strikers I saw this year, but granted, my opinion is based on one game.

 

As far as I know, there were a number of D1 schools who were interested in him, although Ohio State wasn't one of them. Not enough glitz in his high school resume for them. OSU's big pick that year was the state POY (the football team's place kicker's brother), who, until recently, struggled to find a place in the starting squad.

 

Saw the game.
Tough loss for PSU since they played very well. They were unlucky in this one as they hit the woodwork 5 times. Tough luck having to play a man down as well. But how ironic is it that the team that goes a man down ends up playing better?
I did notice that Omekanda and Costanzo are very good. First chance getting to see them live and was very impressed. Walters and Devlin can flat out play too.
Like Hax said, PSU should be very good next year with almost everyone returning. I count a number of starters: Taylor (GK), Vittanen and Reiner in the back, Lindeman, Walters, Devlin, Chambers in midfield and Omekanda and Costanzo in attack. Thats a solid group of young players.
Congrats on a good season and good luck to Tulsa in the next round.
I have gone from 2nd last year to last this year in the pool! Not so great.

 

We all should have seen the tie coming...PSU has tied numerous opponents this year. Too bad they lost in PK's.

 

"It's frustrating," Devlin said. "That's how the game goes. We hit four off the post."

Four clangers, that's tough...especially when you lose.

I know Devlin, he's a skilled player and is only a junior. I'm sure he'll get another shot at it next year in the tournament.