Nov. 23, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - NCAA TOURNAMENT THIRD ROUND
NOV. 24, 2007 < 1="" p.m.="">
No. 1 Seed (#6) Penn State (18-3-2) vs. No. 4 Seed (#12) West Virginia (17-4-2)
University Park, Pa. < jeffrey="">
NO. 1 SEED PSU HOSTS NO. 4 SEED MOUNTAINEERS SATURDAY IN NCAA THIRD ROUND... Making their ninth appearance in the NCAA Third Round, the top-seeded Nittany Lion women's soccer team (18-3-2) meets No. 4 seed West Virginia (17-4-2) on Saturday, Nov. 24, at 1 p.m. at Jeffery Field. Admission will be sold at the gate and is $7 for adults and $3 for students. A webcast and live stats will be available at GoPSUsports.com.
LAST GAME... It took overtime for Penn State to knock Hofstra out of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions cashed in on some heroic efforts to kept the No. 1 seed alive on Monday night. Senior midfielder Carly Bedesem (Holland, Pa.) scored with just seconds remaining to force overtime and sophomore Katie Schoepfer (Watertown, Conn.) made the game-winner deposit, her team-leading seventh goal of the year.
UP NEXT... The winner of the Penn State/West Virginia game goes on to the NCAA quarterfinal to meet the winner of the No. 2 seed USC vs. No. 3 seed Florida match, which is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 24.
NITTANY LIONS' ALL-TIME NCAA TOURNAMENT RECORD... Penn State has a 28-11-1 (.712) all-time record in the NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions have earned a place in the quarterfinals eight of the past nine years and have three College Cup appearances and 13th consecutive appearances in the program's 14-year history.
PENN STATE IN THE NCAA THIRD ROUND... In the program's 13-year NCAA Tournament history, Penn State has reached the third round eight times in the last nine years. The Nittany Lions are 8-0 in third round match-ups including a 7-0 mark at Jeffrey Field. Penn State's 2000 victory in the third round? A 4-0 decision over a Dartmouth team coached by current head coach Erica Walsh.
THE SERIES VS. WEST VIRGINIA... The overall series between the two East Coast foes is at 2-2 right now after a 1-0 loss for Penn State in Morgantown earlier this year. Penn State has dropped its last two games vs. West Virginia, including its last loss at Jeffrey Field on Sept. 8 of 2006 (2-1). Since then, Penn State has gone 21-0-1 at Jeffrey Field and 22-0-1 at home. The two teams have met once before in the NCAA Tournament with Penn State beating WVU 5-2 in the NCAA Second Round that year. All of the Nittany Lions' match-ups with the Mountaineers have come since 2003.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME... Despite home-field advantage each round so far, Saturday's match will only be the Nittany Lions' second game on Jeffrey Field this postseason. Sunday's originally-schedule game at Jeffrey had to be moved due to inclement weather to Bigler Field behind the Shields Building. It is the first time a Penn State home game has been played anywhere but Jeffrey Field.
THE NEW JEFFREY FIELD STREAK... Penn State has played historically well at Jeffrey Field, and the Nittany Lions' current unbeaten streak stands at 21-0-1 over their last 22 games on their home field. PSU has gone undefeated on Jeffrey since a 2-1 loss to West Virginia on Sept. 8, 2006. The Nittany Lions' record for consecutive home wins is 40 stretching from Sept. 17, 2001-Nov. 12, 2004. Penn State is 136-9-5 (.923) all-time at Jeffrey Field. The Nittany Lions are 21-4-0 all-time in NCAA action on Jeffrey Field with their last home NCAA loss coming on Nov. 14, 2004 vs. Maryland.
ERICA WALSH IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT... Despite it being only her first go-around in the NCAA Tournament on the Penn State sideline, head coach Erica Walsh is no stranger to the tournament and has made her mark as both a player and a coach. At William & Mary as a player, Walsh's teams were in the tournament field all four years, including an Elite Eight appearance in 1994. As an assistant, she helped her teams go as far as Florida State's 2005 College Cup run. During her head coaching stint at Dartmouth, she led the Big Green to three NCAA Tournament berths, including two third round appearances in 2000 and 2001. Walsh's record in the NCAA Tournament entering her second round action with the Nittany Lions is 4-3. She is now 1-1 in NCAA games st Jeffrey Field after a 4-0 win last Friday and a 4-0 loss to Penn State in the 2000 third round while she was at Dartmouth. Her overall NCAA record sits at 5-3 (2-0 at PSU).
IN NCAA TOURNEY, ADEN-BUIE LEADS CURRENT PSU PLAYERS IN SCORING... Numerous current Nittany Lions have postseason experience, including a senior class that has made it to at least the NCAA quarterfinals twice. Senior Aubrey Aden-Buie (Allentown, Pa.) leads the current roster in goal-scoring with five goals.
NITTANY LIONS' BIG TEN STREAK NOTEWORTHY... After clinching the 2007 Big Ten title on Nov. 2 at Ohio State, Penn State pushed its conference championship run to 10-straight, the second longest streak in the 26 years of Big Ten women's championships. Northwestern tennis has a chance to re-tie the Nittany Lions this spring as their streak stands at nine consecutive titles. Michigan women's swimming and diving holds the record after winning 12-straight from 1987-98.
WVU NINTH PSU GAME THIS YEAR VS. A TEAM EITHER RANKED OR RECEIVING VOTES... Saturday's game vs. 12th-ranked West Virginia will be the Nittany Lions' ninth contest this year vs. a team either ranked or receiving votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. A 2-1 OT victory over Hofstra brought the Nittany Lions to 5-2-1 vs. ranked opponents or those receiving votes in 2007, which is where they stand heading into the West Virginia match on Saturday. The Nittany Lions' robust schedule helped them to the No. 1 spot in the first RPI rankings to come out this year. In the Oct. 22 RPI survey, PSU was No. 4, but the Nittany Lions were back to No. 1 by the Nov. 4 RPI poll en route to earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
PSU VS. RANKED OPPONENTS... Posting a 4-2-1 record this season vs. ranked teams, Penn State is 55-32-9 (.620) all-time vs. opponents ranked in the NSCAA poll. Wins over Illinois, Indiana, and Hofstra who were all receiving votes at the time of those meetings, puts PSU's record vs. teams ranked or receiving votes this year to 5-2-1. A complete list is on page 4 of this release.
PSU ONE OF TWO BIG TEN TEAMS REMAINING IN THE TOURNAMENT... No. 1 seed Penn State and unseeded Indiana are the only two Big Ten teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament's third round. Penn State beat Monmouth (4-0) and Hofstra (@-1 OT) thus far, while Indiana defeated Toledo (3-2) and then upset No. 2 seed Purdue (1-0) to get its third round berth. Ohio State was ousted by Hofstra in the first round (1-0), while Illinois lost to Notre Dame in the second round (2-0).