Aug. 31, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team (1-1-1) takes to the road for the first time in 2016 this weekend against No. 11 UCLA and Long Beach State. The Nittany Lions take on UCLA (2-1-0) Friday, Sept. 2, at 11 p.m. (EDT) and then travel to Long Beach, Calif., to play Long Beach State (3-0-1) Sunday, Sept. 4, at 8 p.m. (EDT)
FOLLOW ALONG
Friday's match will be aired live on the Pac-12 Networks with Christian Miles and Tammy Blackburn on the call. Sunday's match against Long Beach State will not be aired online. Fans can follow along with live stats for both matches.
LOOKING AT UCLA
No. 11 UCLA enters the weekend with a 2-1-0 record following a win 1-0 at then-No. 11 Texas A&M on Aug. 26 and then the Bruins returned home and dropped a 4-3 contest in overtime to then-No. 6 Florida on Aug. 28.
The Bruin offense is led by Darian Jenkins and Jessie Fleming. Jenkins has posted seven points on three goals and one assist in three games this season. Fleming made her collegiate debut against Florida after helping Canada to a Bronze medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics. In her debut for UCLA, Fleming scored twice during the second half.
In net for the Bruins, Teagan Micah has played every minute (275:39) on the young season and has made 13 saves while allowing four goals.
LOOKING AT LONG BEACH STATE
Long Beach State received three votes in the most-recent NSCAA Coaches' Poll (Aug. 30).
Prior to Sunday's contest against Penn State, the 49ers are slated to host Loyola Marymount on Friday, Sept. 2. The 49ers head into the weekend following a 1-0 win against USC on Aug. 26 before tallying a 3-0 victory against San Diego State on Aug. 29.
Ashley Gonzales leads the LBSU offense with five points on two goals and one assist. After allowing a goal against Kentucky in the season-opener, goalkeeper Ashton McKeown has recorded three-straight shutouts. On the year, McKeown has tallied 15 saves, allowed one goal and posted a save percentage of .938.
WEEKEND REWIND
Penn State is coming off a 3-2 loss to then-No. 14 BYU on Aug. 26. In the contest, the Nittany Lions scored twice within a four-minute span to tie the contest at two, but BYU's Ashley Hatch netted her third goal of the game in the 78th minute to secure the win. In the 62nd minute, Frannie Crouse scored her first goal of the 2016 season off an assist from Haleigh Echard and then Crouse assisted on Charlotte Williams' third goal of the season during the 66th minute.
BACK TO CALI
The Nittany Lions head back to California for the second-straight season. Last year, the Nittany Lions traveled to No. 2 Stanford and Santa Clara and returned home with a pair of victories. The No. 7 Nittany Lions topped the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal, 2-0, and defeated Santa Clara, 1-0.
Last season's win against Stanford was the first in program history for PSU (1-2-0) and the 2-0 defeat was the first time Stanford lost by more than one goal at home since Nov. 23, 2007 (0-2 UConn).
FOR CLUB AND COUNTRY
The 2016 Penn State women's soccer team will be without the services of five Nittany Lions as they pursue a spot on the United States U-20 Women's National Team that will compete in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Nov. 13-Dec. 3. Maddie Elliston, Ellie Jean, Emily Ogle and Kaleigh Riehl will not be on the roster this fall, while Rose Chandler will continue to train with the Nittany Lions during the fall semester.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Freshman Laura Freigang joined the Nittany Lions on the Monday prior to the season-opener against No. 6 WVU. Freigang made her Nittany Lion debut in the 2016 season-opener. In her debut, Freigang took to the field during the 31st minute and played the final 14 minutes of the first half. Freigang then started the second half and scored her first career goal on her first career shot attempt at the 50:50 mark. The No. 2 Nittany Lions and the No. 6 Mountaineers finished in a 1-1 draw.
In a 3-1 win against the Hofstra Pride on Sunday, Aug. 21, Freigang played 48 minutes and paced the Nittany Lion offense with six shot attempts. For her season-opening performance, Freigang was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
WILLIAMS, WILLIAMS, WILLIAMS
Sophomore Charlotte Williams has netted three goals in as many games to start the 2016 season. Williams tallied a pair of goals in a 3-1 win versus Hofstra on Aug. 21 and she scored her third of the season against No. 14 BYU on Aug. 26. During her freshman campaign in 2015, Williams scored three goals in 27 games played.
SHUTOUT SCORELESS STREAK SNAPPED
Penn State closed out the 2015 season with eight-straight shutouts, which spanned 733:32 of play. During the season opener against No. 6 West Virginia, the Nittany Lions kept the Mountaineers off the board until the 76:59 mark. The WVU goal at 76:59 snapped Penn State's shutout scoreless streak of 810:31, which was the second-best span in program history (1032:33, 2004).
HOME SWEET HOME
The Penn State women's soccer team has a record of 56-5-5 at Jeffrey Field since the start of the 2011 season. Over the past six seasons, Penn State has not lost twice at home in a single season. All-time at Jeffrey Field the Penn State women's soccer team has an overall record of 216-25-11.
Penn State kicked off the 2016 campaign setting an attendance record against No. 6 WVU. A Penn State women's soccer record 5,791 fans made their way to Jeffrey Field to watch the Nittany Lions and Mountaineers play to a 1-1 draw. The previous mark of 5,117 was set in 2012 against the top-ranked Stanford Cardinal.
Last season, the Nittany Lions finished sixth in overall attendance in the nation with 21,856 fans, which was a program-best. The 2015 season featured two of the top-10 home field crowds in program history.
Penn State opened the 2015 season with a crowd of 3,175 against Hofstra and 4,207 fans packed into Jeffrey Field to watch the Nittany Lions host Duke.
NITTANY LIONS WELCOME NINE
Head coach Erica Dambach welcomed nine freshmen to the Penn State women's soccer family for the class of 2020. Amanda Dennis and Emma Hasco enrolled early to Penn State during the spring of 2016. Becca Hamilton, Madison Moroi, Bristol Pizzuto, Laura Suero and Sarafina Valenti joined the Nittany Lions back on signing day in February. Grace Fisk and Laura Freigang were the last to join the Penn State women's soccer family as they joined the program in August.
NITTANY LION CAPTAINS
Brittany Basinger, Nickolette Driesse and Megan Schafer will captain the Nittany Lions for the 2016 season.
MILESTONE VICTORIES
The 2016 season marks the 23rd year of varsity women's soccer for Penn State. The Nittany Lions captured their 400th program victory with a 3-1 win over the Hofstra Pride on Aug. 21. Overall, the Nittany Lions boast a record of 400-104-30.
Coach Dambach is approaching 200 overall wins as a head coach. During her time as a head coach at Dartmouth (2000-02), Harvard (2006) and Penn State (2007-Present), Coach Dambach has tallied a record of 198-79-14.
PICKED TO DEFEND THE B1G
According to the 2016 Big Ten preseason coaches' poll, the Penn State women's soccer team was selected to defend its 2015 Big Ten regular season championship. Since the preseason poll started in 2003, the Nittany Lions have been named the preseason favorites every time.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The 2016 Penn State women's soccer roster is comprised of nine freshmen, one redshirt freshman, five sophomores, one redshirt sophomore, six juniors, three redshirt juniors and one senior.
MAC HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST
Junior forward Megan Schafer was named to the 2016 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List prior to the start of the 2016 campaign. During her 2015 season, Schafer led the Nittany Lions in goals (13) and points (30). Six of her 13 goals during 2015 captured a victory for the Blue & White. As a sophomore, she started 24 of 27 matches and netted at least one point in 11 of the final 17 matches on the year.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Juniors Frannie Crouse and Megan Schafer rank in the top-25 in numerous Nittany Lion all-time standings. Following her three points against BYU, Crouse moved past Emily Hurd (12g, 28a) for 20th all-time with 54 career points (22g, 10a). Schafer currently ranks 24th in all-time points with 47 (19g, 9a).
Crouse's goal against BYU on Aug. 26 was the 22nd of her career, which moved her into sole possession of 19th place all-time. Crouse is one goal behind Nittany Lion great Raquel Rodriguez (23). Schafer has 19 career goals to her name, which is 22nd-best all-time at PSU. In game-winning goals, Schafer and Crouse rank 17th (eight) and 18th (seven), respectively.
SCORING IN 2015
The Nittany Lion underclassmen accounted for 46 of the team's 64 goals last season, which also included 17 of the 20 goals scored in the NCAA Tournament.
2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT RUN
During Penn State's run to the National Title last season, the Nittany Lions outscored the opposition, 20-0, and outshot the opposition, 108-43. Only 13 of their opponent's shots during the NCAA Tournament were on goal.
THE POLLS
As of Aug. 30, the Nittany Lions are ranked sixth in the TopDrawerSoccer poll and 13th in both NSCAA and Soccer America polls.
YEAR 10
The 2016 season marks the 10th season for Erica Dambach at the helm of the Penn State women's soccer program. As the head coach of the Nittany Lions, Coach Dambach has an overall record of 158-51-11 and 80-14-3 in Big Ten play.
NITTANY LIONS ON BTN
The Penn State women's soccer team will be featured three times during the regular season on the Big Ten Network.
The BTN regular season matches for the Nittany Lions will be West Virginia (Aug. 19 - 7:30 p.m. EDT), Minnesota (Sept. 16 - 8 p.m. EDT) and Rutgers (Oct. 13 - 7 p.m. EDT).
THE TRIPLE CROWN
The 2015 season was a banner year for the Nittany Lions as they brought home the national championship along with both Big Ten titles.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions return home to Jeffrey Field to close out their non-conference slate against San Diego State (Sept. 9) and La Salle (Sept. 11).