June 6, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Brittany Basinger (Purcellville, Va.), Nickolette Driesse (Wayne, N.J.), and Megan Schafer (Langhorne, Pa.) have been selected as captains of the 2016 Penn State women's soccer team, as announced by head coach Erica Dambach.
"Over the past few months the team has worked extremely hard to continue to improve on our success from last season," Dambach said. "There have been several standout performances over this time and we believe the team's overall effort and work will pay off come August. From a leadership perspective our staff and team have been very impressed with Brittany, Megan and Nickolette and have chosen these three as captains for the 2016 season. They bring a wide arrange of strengths and skills and will complement each other extremely well. Our coaching staff looks forward to working closely with these three over the next few months in preparation for another exciting season in Happy Valley!"
Basinger, a rising redshirt junior, has started and played in 50 matches on the backline for the Nittany Lions. She missed the 2014 season due to an injury, but has started every match in 2013 and 2015.
Last season, Basinger started all 27 matches on the Nittany Lion backline that tallied 15 shutouts and offensively, Basinger recorded her first two goals as a Nittany Lion and netted a career-high six points.
Driesse, a transfer from Florida State prior to the 2015 season, played in all 27 matches and started 20 contests. In 2015, Driesse finished her junior season with 14 points on four goals and six assists. Her 14 points were sixth-best on the team in 2015.
Schafer had a breakout sophomore season as she led the 2015 Nittany Lions with 30 points and 13 goals. She also added four assists on the year. In 2015, Schafer played in all 27 contests, which included 24 starts. She garnered All-Big Ten Second Team honors and was named to the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region First Team last season.
Penn State women's soccer captured its first NCAA title last season along with its 17th Big Ten regular season title and its sixth Big Ten tournament title. The Nittany Lions begin their 2016 campaign on Aug. 19, against West Virginia at Jeffrey Field.