UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women’s soccer program and 20th-year head coach Erica Dambach announced the program’s 2026 schedule on Monday afternoon, highlighted by 17 regular-season matches, nine fixtures on Jeffrey Field and a challenging 12-match Big Ten Conference slate.
“Every year, our program sets out to challenge the very best in our sport, and our 2026 schedule is a reflection of our commitment to face some of the nation’s top programs head-on,” Dambach said. “We have an amazing opportunity ahead of us this season, and our group is excited to attack the slate we’ve put together for this year. We have tremendous belief in the culture we've built, the leadership on our roster, and the commitment our student-athletes bring into their training and preparation each and every day. We cannot wait to welcome our incredible supporters back to Jeffrey Field this fall and celebrate another outstanding season of soccer with our Happy Valley community.”
Penn State ushers in its 33rd varsity season in 2026 and its 20th season under Dambach with a 17-match slate highlighted by nine contests at the newly-revamped Jeffrey Field. The Blue & White will face five non-conference opponents and 12 Big Ten Conference foes over the 17 fixtures, as well as six opponents who reached the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Tournament. The 2026 schedule is highlighted by three teams that reached the national quarterfinals a year ago in Michigan State, Ohio State and Washington.
The Nittany Lions open the 2026 campaign and 20th season of the Dambach era on Sunday, August 16, with one of the premier non-conference matches in the nation. Penn State will travel to Alumni Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, to battle the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a nationally-relevant matchup. PSU returns to regional road competition four days later on Thursday, August 20, with a trip to Morgantown for a border rivalry clash against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
A new-look Jeffrey Field welcomes the Blue & White home for the first time in 2026 with a pair of late-August contests against non-conference foes beginning on Thursday, August 27, against in-state challenger Bucknell before closing the month by hosting Brown on Sunday, August 30. Penn State’s matchup against Brown will be the closing act on the official opening weekend of the Jeffrey Field Soccer Complex, the nation’s premier training venue for one of the most historic programs in women’s college soccer. The final match of the 2026 non-conference slate arrives on Thursday, September 3, when the Nittany Lions welcome ACC-rival Virginia Tech to Happy Valley.
The 33rd year of women’s soccer in the Big Ten Conference kicks off in 2026, with all 18 member institutions gearing up for a league-record 12-match regular season conference slate. Penn State’s dozen duels against B1G foes begin on Thursday, September 10, with a road trip to Columbus, Ohio, to face the rival Ohio State Buckeyes at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Blue & White return home three days later to host Minnesota on Sunday, September 13, before embarking on another conference road trip against Maryland on Friday, September 18.
Penn State closes the month of September back at Jeffrey Field with back-to-back premier B1G matchups, welcoming Iowa on Thursday, September 24 and USC on Sunday, September 27. The Nittany Lions remain in Happy Valley to open October against Purdue on Saturday, October 3, before traveling west for consecutive Pacific Northwest road matches against Oregon on Thursday, October 8, and Washington on Sunday, October 11.
Following the cross-country road swing, Penn State returns to Jeffrey Field on Saturday, October 17, for a meeting with Rutgers before closing the regular-season road schedule with back-to-back road matches in the state of Michigan against Michigan State on Thursday, October 22, and Michigan on Sunday, October 25. The Nittany Lions conclude the 2026 regular season at home on Friday, October 30, when Indiana visits Happy Valley for the program's regular-season finale.
Postseason competition opens on Wednesday, November 4 with opening-round matches of the 2026 Big Ten Tournament. The league’s postseason event will run through the Championship Match on Sunday, November 15. Further information on the 2026 Big Ten Women’s Soccer Tournament will be announced by the league office when available. The 2026 NCAA Tournament gets rolling with first round matches the weekend of November 20 through 22, followed by second and third round matches the weekend of November 26 through 29. National Quarterfinal matches will be contested the weekend of December 4 through 5. Every match in the opening four rounds of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament will be contested on campus sites. The Women’s College Cup will be contested at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, home to the National Women’s Soccer League’s North Carolina Courage. National Semifinal matches will take place on Thursday, December 10, followed by the National Championship match on Sunday, December 13.
Penn State is fresh off another trip to the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Tournament, with PSU reaching the big dance in each of the last 32 seasons in addition to booking a second round-or-better finish in each of the last 17 years. The Nittany Lions reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago and cracked the 10-win threshold for the 32nd year in a row, a stretch of consistent success that runs concurrently with PSU’s entire varsity history since 1994. The Blue & White return team captains Mackenzie Gress and Molly Martin, as well as the program’s leading scorer from the 2025 season in rising-junior Aubrey Kulpa, who totaled 22 points in just 15 appearances a season ago.
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Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State women’s soccer. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion women’s soccer team on X and Instagram @PennStateWSOC, in addition to the team’s Facebook page at /PSUWomensSoccer.