CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Fourth-seeded and 22nd-ranked Penn State women's soccer prepares for its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship national quarterfinals on Friday, November 29, as the Nittany Lions get set to challenge the second-seeded and eighth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels from Dorrance Field. The match will stream to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via ESPN+ and the ESPN app, with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. (ET).

KICKIN’ IT

On the back of a career night from graduate midfielder Natalie Wilson, in addition to tallies from freshman forward Aubrey Kulpa and graduate midfielder Rowan Lapi, Penn State advanced to the national quarterfinals following a 3-1 win over the eighth-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores in third-round action from the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, marking PSU's second-straight Elite Eight trip. Following Sunday night’s triumph in Tallahassee, the Nittany Lions secured their 15th all-time trip to the national quarterfinals and second advancement to the Elite Eight in a row. Penn State played in its eighth consecutive third round match in the NCAA Championships, marking the longest active stretch of Sweet 16 appearances in women’s college soccer. PSU landed its 66th all-time win in the national postseason and improved to 66-27-3 in the NCAA Tournament following its two-goal victory over the Commodores. The Nittany Lions will battle for their sixth appearance in the Women’s College Cup in program history and first bid since bringing home the national championship in 2015.

Wilson was the woman of the match in Penn State’s 24th fixture of the year, booking the most dominant individual performance of her collegiate career to help propel the Blue & White to their second consecutive national quarterfinal. Wilson, a native of Fairfax, Virginia, found the back of the net for the second time since joining the Penn State women’s soccer program in the spring of 2021, with both of her collegiate tallies going in the book as match-winning scores. Wilson’s banger was preceded by an assist on PSU’s first goal of the match toward the end of the first half, marking her first collegiate three-point outing. Individually, the Nittany Lions are paced by a 34-point campaign from redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean, who boasts 16 goals and a pair of assists in 2024, with senior midfielder Jordan Fusco standing as one of the most dominant facilitators in the nation with 12 assists. In goal, redshirt sophomore Mackenzie Gress leads the roster with 49 saves.

THIRD ROUND THRILLERS!

Penn State participated in its nation's-best eighth-consecutive NCAA Tournament Third Round match last weekend in Tallahassee, Florida, with the Nittany Lions booking their second consecutive trip to the National Quarterfinals by way of a 3-1 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores at Seminole Soccer Complex. PSU booked its second-ever win over Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament, with Sunday's result joining a second round win from the 2020-21 spring campaign in Cary, North Carolina. Just two of the nation's Power Four Conferences remain in contention for the national championship, with the Big Ten pairing of top-seeded USC and fourth-seeded Penn State joining six ACC programs in Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Stanford, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech rounding out the Elite Eight following Sunday's third round matchups across the country. Two national No. 1 seeds remain in the hunt for the national title following the third round of action, with No. 1 Mississippi State eliminated by Notre Dame last weekend in Starkville.