Nine-Time Reigning Big Ten Champs Meet Niagara in First Round... No. 2 seed (No. 8 NSCAA) Penn State (15-4-3, 8-1-1 Big Ten) hosts Niagara (12-6-1) in the NCAA Women??s Soccer First Round on Friday, Nov. 10, at 5 p.m. That game will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. contest between Villanova and Toledo, also at Jeffrey Field. University Park will also be the site of a second round game with the winner of the Penn State/Niagara game and the winner of the Villanova/Toledo match meeting at 1 p.m. on Sunday, 1 p.m.
Livestats and Audio Available on Tournament Central... All of the NCAA Women??s Soccer First and Second Tournament games will be available via livestats on www.GoPSUsports.com, your official source for Penn State athletics. Click on the NCAA tournament link, which will take you to all Gametracker links, boxscores, quotes, photos and more! All of Penn State??s games will also be available through free live audio.
Lions in Their 12th NCAA Tournament... Penn State is making its 12th-straight appearance in the NCAA women??s soccer tournament. The Nittany Lions have been part of the tournament field all but one year, their first as a Division I program in 1994. A complete Penn State NCAA history appears on page 3 of this release.
Last Time Out in the NCAA Tournament... One of last year's national semifinalists, Penn State is pushing for another trip to the College Cup and its first national championship in program history. Last season, The Lions used wins over Bucknell (First round, 6-0), West Virginia (Second round, 5-2), No. 4 seed Texas A&M (Third round, 4-1), and No. 2 seed Santa Clara (Quarterfinals, 2-1) all at home to reach their third-ever College Cup semifinal. Despite one of the most potent offenses in the nation as well as one of it's best strikers in M.A.C. Hermann Trophy runner-upTiffany Weimer, Penn State played eventual champion Portland and M.A.C. Hermann Trophy winner Christine Sinclair to a scoreless tie before failing to advance after penalty kicks, 4-3. The tie gave the Lions their first undefeated, albeit NCAA championship-less, season in program history with a 23-0-2 record.
Nittany Lions Enjoy Fourth Year Among Top 8... Penn State??s No. 2 seed in the 2006 NCAA Tournament marks the fourth straight year that the Nittany Lions have been seeded among the Top 8 teams in the nation entering the NCAA Tournament. Last year, Penn State earned a No. 1 seed and the previous season, 2004, was the No. 2 seed overall. The 2003 season saw Penn State earn the No. 5 seed. The Nittany Lions were also seeded among the Top 8 entering the tournament in 2000 (No. 7), 1999 (No. 6), and 1998 (No. 7). In 12 appearances, that makes a total of seven among the Top 8 teams for Penn State.
Penn State Tourney First Round History... After receiving byes through the first round three of the 11 years the Lions have previsouly qualified, Penn State has compiled a 6-2 record in the NCAA opening round. The Nittany Lions have not lost in their opening round game since 1997 when William & Mary outlasted Penn State, 3-2, in double overtime at Jeffrey Field.
The Series with Niagara... Penn State??s Friday match with Niagara will be the first between the two programs.
Penn State Series History vs. Potential Second Round Opponents... Should Penn State win its first round game with Niagara, the Nittany Lions will meet the winner of the Toledo vs. Villanova game. Here??s a look at the series history with the Rockets and the Wildcats:
~ The Series with Toledo... Should Penn State meet Toledo, it would be the first time in series history.
~ The Series with Villanova... The Wildcats are the only team at University Park for the 2006 first and second rounds that has a competitive history with the Penn State women??s soccer program. The Nittany Lions lead the Wildcats 3-2 overall in an overall series that dates back to 1994, the first year of Penn State??s program. The last meeting between the pair was in 2001 and resulted in a 3-0 second round NCAA win for the Lions. The Lions lost 2-1 at Villanova in 1997, won 4-0 at home in 1996, lost 3-1 at Villanova in 1995 and defeated the Wildcats at home in the inaugural game of the series in 1994. In three match-ups at Jeffrey Field, Penn State had never lost to Villanova. The Lions are 1-0 in NCAA play vs. the Wildcats.
Krieger Earns Soccer America Honors... Senior captain Ali Krieger (Dumfries, Va.), 2006 Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Year, has been named to Soccer America??s Team of the Week for her performance during the Big Ten Tournament (Nov. 2-5). Krieger helped lead the Penn State women??s soccer team defensively to a 3-1 win over Illinois in the final on Nov. 5 after results the previous two rounds of 3-2 over Northwestern and 2-0 vs. Michigan.
Lions Grab Conference Honors... After winning its ninth-straight Big Ten title, six Nittany Lions were named to the All-Big Ten team. Senior captain Ali Krieger earned co-Defensive Player of the Year honors and head coach Paula Wilkins earned her fifth Coach of the Year honor in her six-year tenure.
Four Lions were named to the All-Big Ten first team. Joining senior defender Krieger were junior Aubrey Aden-Buie (Allentown, Pa.), sophomore Sheree Gray (Toms River, N.J.), and sophomore Allie Long (Northport, N.Y.). Junior defender Denay Riley (Washingtonville, N.Y.) and freshman Alyssa Naeher (Seymour, Conn.) earned second team kudos. Naeher and Katie Schoepfer (Waterford, Conn.) garnered all-freshman team honors to round out the Penn State list of honorees. Senior Sarah Dwyer (Califon, N.J.) was the team??s Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree.
Penn State Wins Championship with 8-1-1 Record?? Penn State used an 8-1-1 conference record to capture its ninth straight Big Ten title. After a pair of perfect Big Ten seasons, the eight wins and one tie (25 points) was the lowest win total the Lions used to clinch the title since their 2001 championship season that was also an 8-1-1 record. The lowest total to yield the Lions a conference crown? Penn State??s first of the nine they own in 1998. That year, Penn State took it all with a 7-1-1 mark (23 points) before Purdue joined the field.
Penn State Puts 13th-straight Winning Big Ten Season in the Record Books?? The Lions?? 8-1-1 conference record marked the 13th consecutive winning season for the Lions, keeping them perfect as a program. The nine-time Big Ten champions, Penn State has never finished lower then third (1995 and ??97) in the conference.
LION BIG TEN HISTORY
1994 5-2 T2nd
1995 4-2-1 3rd
1996 5-1-1 2nd
1997 6-2-1 3rd
1998 7-1-1 1st
1999 9-0-1 1st
2000 10-0-0 1st
2001 8-1-1 1st
2002 9-1-0 1st
2003 9-1-0 1st
2004 10-0-0 1st
2005 10-0-0 1st
2006 8-1-1 1st
Lions?? Championship Streak Noteworthy...By clinching the 2006 Big Ten title on Oct. 22, Penn State pushed its championship run to nine-straight. The streak is now tied with Indiana women??s tennis for the second-longest in Big Ten women??s championship history. Northwestern tennis has a chance to make it a three-way tie this spring, and sits third with eight consecutive titles. The conference is celebrating its 25th Anniversary of Big Ten Women??s Championships this year.
LONGEST BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP STREAK
12, Michigan Swimming & Diving, 1987-98
9, Penn State Women??s Soccer, 1998-Pres.
9, Indiana Tennis, 1987-95
8, Northwestern Tennis, 1999-Present