Sept. 8, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team (2-2-1) returns home to Jeffrey Field to close out the non-conference portion of the regular season Friday, Sept. 9, against San Diego State and Sunday, Sept. 11, against La Salle. The San Diego State match is slated for a 5:30 p.m. start, while the La Salle match will start at 1 p.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
Friday's game will be streamed on GoPSUsports.com, while Sunday's game is on BTN2go. Fans can follow along with live stats on GoPSUsports.com.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday's match against San Diego State is Pokémon Go Night. Prior to Friday's match, fans can take pictures with cutouts of 10 Pokémon. At halftime of the San Diego State match, one member of Sons of Jeffrey and one member of the Park Avenue Army will go against each other to try to "catch them all" and the winner will receive a giftcard to the student book store.
Following the La Salle match, the Nittany Lions will be hosting a post-match autograph session for fans.
ATTENDING JEFFREY FIELD
Admission and parking for women's soccer regular season events are free. Fans are reminded that there is a no bag policy in place on stadium grounds.
LOOKING AT SDSU
The Aztecs enter the match against Penn State with a record of 0-3-0. The Aztecs opened the year with a 5-0 loss against UCLA on Aug. 19. SDSU then traveled to Long Beach State and dropped a 3-0 contest on Aug. 29. Most recently, the Aztecs fell to San Diego, 3-0, on Sept. 2.
Victoria Barba leads the Aztec offense with eight shot attempts. In net for the SDSU Aztecs, Gabby English has played every minute on the year (270:00) and has made 11 saves while allowing 10 goals.
LOOKING AT LA SALLE
The La Salle Explorers travel to Happy Valley on Sunday with a record of 2-3-0. The Explorers take on the Nittany Lions following a 4-3 loss against Northeastern on Sept. 2.
Deja Davis leads the La Salle offense with six points on two goals and two assists, while Marykate Bateman has posted five points on one goal and three assists.
Goalkeeper Larisa Zambelli has spent the majority of the season in net for the Explorers with 427:41 minutes played. On the year, she has tallied a 2-3-0 record, made 23 saves, allowed 11 goals and posted one shutout.
WEEKEND REWIND
The Nittany Lions return home following a 1-1-0 weekend at No. 11 UCLA (Sept. 2) and Long Beach State (Sept. 4). Penn State opened last weekend with a 1-0 loss in overtime at No. 11 UCLA. The Nittany Lion defense kept the UCLA offense in check by only allowing one goal on three shots on goal. Canadian Bronze medalist Jessie Fleming scored her third goal of her freshman season off a header at 98:01 to clinch the victory for UCLA.
Penn State responded from the 1-0 loss with a 2-1 victory at Long Beach State on Sept. 4. In the 2-1 victory, junior Frannie Crouse netted her fourth career two-goal game.
BIG TEN PLAY UP NEXT
The upcoming weekend against San Diego State and La Salle marks the 2016 non-conference regular season finale for the Nittany Lions. Penn State opens Big Ten play at Minnesota (Sept. 16) and Wisconsin (Sept. 18). Minnesota heads into this weekend with a record of 5-1-0, while Wisconsin shared the 2015 Big Ten regular season title with Penn State.
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.
STANDOUT SOPHOMORE
Over the first five games of the 2016 season, sophomore Charlotte Williams has tallied eight points on three goals and two assists. During her freshman season in 2015, Williams netted 13 points on three goals and seven assists. Williams currently leads the team in points (eight), assists (two), is tied for the team lead in goals (three), game-winning goals (one), is second on the team in shots on goal (six) and ranks third with 12 shots.
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 401-105-30.
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 199-80-14.
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. In all-time points at Penn State, Crouse ranks 20th with 58 (24g, 10a) and Schafer is 24th with 48 (19g, 10a). After scoring twice at Long Beach State, Crouse moved into a tie for 17th all-time with 24 goals (Taylor Schram - 2010-13) while Schafer ranks 22nd with 19 career goals. Crouse recently scored her eighth career game-winning goal, which moved her into a tie for 17th all-time with Schafer. Crouse also ranks 20th in shots attempted with 145 and 11th with 74 shots on goal.
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
The Nittany Lions currently rank 12th in the Soccer America poll, 16th in the NSCAA poll and 19th in the TopDrawerSoccer poll.
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 159-52-11 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 begin their quest for their 18th Big Ten regular season title next weekend at Minnesota and Wisconsin. The weekend begins with the Golden Gophers hosting the Nittany Lions on Friday, Sept. 16, in Falcon Heights, Minn., live on the Big Ten Network at 8 p.m. (EDT) Penn State closes out the opening weekend of Big Ten play in Madison, Wis., against the Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday, Sept. 18, at 2 p.m. (EDT)