UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's soccer team opens its 2021 season this week with two nonconference opponents, UMass and La Salle. The Nittany Lions open the season Thursday against UMass before taking on La Salle on Sunday.
Game Information
Dates: Thursday, August 19 | 7 p.m. ET & Sunday, August 22 | 5 p.m. ET
Location: Jeffrey Field
Series Record: UMass – First Meeting | La Salle – 2-0
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
Live Stream: BTN+ ($): Game 1 | Game 2
Penn State Last Season Breakdown
Record: 12-3-1, 9-1-1
NCAA Tournament Third Round
Big Ten Regular Season Champions
Top Returning Scorers: Ally Schlegel (11 goals), Sam Coffey (6 goals), Payton Linnehan (5 goals)
Big Ten Preseason Favorites
The Penn State women's soccer team has been selected as the favorite to win the 2021 Big Ten Conference championship, according to the annual preseason poll of the conference's head coaches.
The Nittany Lions are the defending Big Ten champions, coming off the 20th regular season championship in program history. Penn State has been chosen first in every Big Ten preseason coaches' poll since 2003. Under the direction of head coach Erica Dambach, the Nittany Lions have won 11 Big Ten regular season championships and four Big Ten Tournament championships as she enters her 15th season as Penn State's head coach.
Last Season Rewind
The Nittany Lions made the NCAA Tournament for the 26th consecutive season, winning 12 games in route to another Big Ten regular season championship. The Nittany Lions advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. This was the eighth time in the last 10 seasons the Nittany Lions have advanced to at least the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Nittany Lions led the Big Ten conference in nearly every offensive category. Penn State ranked second in the country as a team in assists (48), third in points (134) fourth in goals (43) and points per game (8.38) and sixth in scoring offense (2.69 goals per game).
The Penn State defense allowed just 14 goals this season and limited opposing offense to a 0.86 goals against average.
The Nittany Lions had four student-athletes earn at least one All-America honor last season.
The program earned four major awards from the Big Ten Conference and had five Nittany Lions bring home all-Big Ten honors.
Head coach Erica Dambach was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fifth time in her career. Redshirt sophomore Ally Schlegel was named the Forward of the Year, senior captain Sam Coffey was named the Midfielder of the Year and Eva Alonso was named the Co-Freshman of the Year.
Penn State was also well represented on the respective All-Big Ten teams. Schlegel, Coffey and Frankie Tagliaferri all earned first team honors. Payton Linnehan and Alonso were named to the All-Big Ten second team and Alonso was also named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team.
UMass Breakdown
The Minutewomen posted a 6-5-1 overall record during the spring season with a 5-2-1 record in Atlantic 10 play to earn the No. 2-seed for the conference tournament. UMass reached the semifinals in the A-10 Championship and fell to No. 3-seeded Davidson in Saint Louis.
La Salle Breakdown
La Salle went 7-2 last season and were 4-2 in the Atlantic 10. The Explorers has four students earn all-conference honors last season. The Explorers have earned five NCAA tournament berths in the last nine years under Paul Royal. During that span, Royal led La Salle to the program's first Atlantic 10 regular season title in 2011 and first A-10 tournament championship in 2012. The Explorers also won A-10 regular season titles in 2012, 2014 and 2017 along with A-10 tournament championships in 2013 and 2017.