Joey Julius named to All-Big Ten Freshman Team

Joey Julius had an up and down year as the placekicker for Penn State's football team, but his overall performance on the gridiron was enough to earn a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman team.

Julius, who was a member of the Philadelphia Union Academy team that won the Generation adidas Cup in 2012, converted 10-of-12 field goal attempts for the season to rank second in the conference and 24th in the nation for conversion rate (.833) and averaged 63.2 yards on kickoffs.

He struggled with extra points, missing four of his 24 attempts, in part because of his low to the ground style of kicking the ball he no doubt brought over from his soccer playing days. He led the team with 50 points.

His best games came in a win over San Diego State in which Julius made three field goal attempts and in a one-point win against Maryland where he kicked a 40-yard field goal.

Matthew Ralph

Matthew Ralph is the managing editor of Philadelphia Soccer Now. He's covered soccer at all levels for a decade in the Philadelphia region and has also written for TheCup.us, NPSL, PrepSoccer and other publications. He lives with his wife and two young children in Broomall, Pa., but grew up in South Jersey and is originally from Kansas.

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