Penn State men’s soccer: Old Bersano new at anchoring Nittany Lion defense

As a redshirt senior, Matt Bersano, at age 23, is one of the oldest players on the Penn State men’s soccer team. He’s also one of the team’s newest.

Bersano broke numerous records in goal at Oregon State, including the best goals-against career average in school history (1.13 from 2012 to 2014). He then transferred to Penn State last spring for his final year of eligibility.

Along with pursuing a master’s degree in international affairs, Bersano said he chose Penn State because “I wanted to win a title. If that meant a Big Ten title or a national title, I wanted to get a ring. … I felt that Penn State was a good place to get a ring.”

Bersano brought both collegiate and professional experience to the Nittany Lions. He trained with a number of Major League Soccer teams over the past several summers, including Real Salt Lake, Chicago Fire and Sporting Kansas City.

Last year at Oregon State, Bersano helped lead his team to the second round of the NCAA tournament with a 1-0 win against the University of Denver. Before college, he attended Corona Del Sol High School in Tempe, Ariz., where his team won back-to-back state championships in 2009 and 2010.

In Bersano’s 13 games for the Nittany Lions, he has a 1.19 goals-against average, with a .724 save percentage and five shutouts.

Despite Penn State’s 6-7-3 record this season, Bersano is optimistic about the team’s chances in the Big Ten tournament that begins Saturday. The ninth-seeded Nittany Lions face No. 8 seed Michigan State in Columbus, Ohio, at 1 p.m.

“I think that we have played some beautiful soccer, especially as the year went on. We’ve been a bit unlucky with the way some of the bounces have gone,” he said. “But I think the momentum will swing in our way pretty soon.”

The style of play in the Big Ten has been something to which Bersano has had to adjust. Big Ten soccer is defense-driven, he said, versus the fast, scoring style played in the PAC 12.

Bersano compared his career at Oregon State with that of former Penn State goalie Andrew Wolverton, who is now with the LA Galaxy. Like Wolverton, Bersano hopes to play professionally after college.

“I would love to be a starter somewhere,” he said. “My five-year plan is to eventually be starting for an MLS club.”

Bersano said he was offered a United Soccer League contract with Real Salt Lake after graduating from Oregon State but decided Penn State would give him a better jump on an MLS career.

“You kind of have to be getting a pretty good USL contract to turn down going back to college,” he said. “There will be opportunities anywhere I go. Preferably I would love to stay in the MLS, but you have to take whatever comes your way.”

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Penn State men’s soccer: Old Bersano new at anchoring Nittany Lion defense."