RHODE ISLAND at #21/14 PENN STATE
Thursday, Aug. 25 at 8:30 p.m.
Jeffrey Field (University Park, Pa.)
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THE SERIES

• Penn State leads: 6-2-0
• First Meeting: 1978; Penn State won 2-0
• Last meeting: 2018; Rhody defeated Penn State (1-0) on Aug. 31 in Kingston, R.I.
• Current Streak: Rhode Island, one win
• Penn State's last win: 1990 season (2-1, OT) in Kingston, R.I.
• Of Note: Both URI wins in the all-time series have come in Kingston. The Rams have never defeated Penn State on the road.

THE RAMS

• The Rams open the 2022 season on Thursday night, when they travel to Penn State for an 8:30 p.m. game.
• Rhody was picked to finish second in the 2022 Atlantic 10 preseason coaches poll.
• The Rams return 16 players from last year's team, including 10 starters.
• Ten new players have joined the team this year - two Germans and eight Americans.
• Overall, Rhode Island has seven international players on the roster - three from Norway, two from Germany and two from Spain.
• The lone starter from last year's team to graduate was all-conference goalkeeper Stefan Schmidt, who posted 14 shutouts and a 0.96 goals against average through three seasons with the Rams.
• Rhode Island combined for 28 goals a year ago - 26 of which were scored by players returning for the 2022 season. Additionally, 25 of the team's 27 assists from last season were recorded by players on the 2022 roster.
• Redshirt senior Patrick Agyemang and grad student Edvin Akselsen both were named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Team, and were recognized by United Soccer Coaches as Players to watch for the 2022 season.
• Agyemang (East Hartford, Conn.) led Rhode Island in scoring last year, with 26 total points on 10 goals and six assists. He recorded points in 11 of URI's 17 games and had three games with multiple goals and/or assists. Most notably were his hat trick performance against Brown and his two-goal, one assist night in Rhody's A-10 quarterfinal win over Davidson. Following each of those performances, he was named to College Soccer News' National Team of the Week.
• Akselsen (Oslo, Norway) - who elected to stay home in Europe during the 2020-21 academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic - also missed all of the 2021 preseason, as well as the first four games of the season. Despite going 659 days without playing in a game prior to his season debut on Sept. 10, 2021, he managed to register three goals and four assists in 11 games played. 
• Grad student Zach Drayer also was named to the A-10's preseason All-Conference Team. The Lancaster, N.Y. native has appeared in 56 games over the last four seasons, and has helped anchor a back line that has combined for 23 shutouts during that span. Offensively, he has contributed a pair of goals for the Rams, scoring once as sophomore and once as a junior.
• Sophomores Isak Oystese and Cian Purcell were All-Rookie picks in the A-10 last season. Oystese also took home the league's Rookie of the Year honors.
• Oystese (Oslo, Norway) finished his freshman season with 15 points on six goals and three assists, becoming the sixth player in program history to be named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, and the third under head coach Gareth Elliott.
• Purcell (West Greenwich, R.I.) appeared and started in 16 of Rhode Island's 17 games a year ago. An offensively-minded defender, he finished his rookie campaign with four assists while helping the Rams limit their opponents to an average of just five shots on goal per game.
• The Rams are 26-17-2 all-time in season openers.
• Rhode Island is 5-22-4 all time against current members of the Big Ten Conference. URI's victories have come against Penn State (1979, 2018), Ohio State (1982) and Rutgers (1982, 1986).
• The last time the Rams faced a Big Ten opponent was in 2018 when they knocked off Penn State by a score of 1-0.

THE NITTANY LIONS

• Penn State is nationally ranked in three preseason polls: TopDrawerSoccer (#14), United Soccer Coaches (#21), College Soccer News (#22).
• PSU went 13-7-1 overall in 2021 and was 6-2-0 in the Big Ten.
• In the league's 2022 preseason poll, the Nittany Lions were picked repeat as Big Ten champions.
• Four members of the team - Femi Awodesu, Seth Kuhn and Peter Mangione - were named to the Big Ten's Players to Watch list.
• Penn State won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles in 2021.
• The Nittany Lions earned a first-round bye in last year's NCAA Tournament, but suffered a season-ending loss (8-2) to visiting Hofstra. Ironically, URI fell to Hofstra in last year's season opener.