Dec. 20, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sophomore Alyssa Naeher (Seymour, Conn.) has earned yet another honor in her young career, this time a second team MVP nod from Soccer America. Previously this season, Naeher was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and earned first team NSCAA All-America, first team All-Great Lakes Region, and first team All-Big Ten honors.
Naeher tallyed 103 saves and finished the year with a 0.62 goals against average (best ever by a PSU sophomore goalkeeper), including a microscopic 0.39 goals against average in conference. Naeher ranked 12th nationally in save percentage (0.873) and was 18th in goals against average (0.62). A two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, she also earned Soccer America Team of the Week this year and was an academic All-District selection by ESPN the Magazine. Naeher's All-America honor was the first for the young talent, and her first team All-Big Ten selection marked her second all-conference award after being named to the league's second team last year.
Winners of their 10th consecutive Big Ten championship, Penn State finished ranked 12th in the final NSCAA poll released after another outstanding campaign. Making their 13th-straight NCAA appearance, the No. 1 seeded Nittany Lions went all the way to the third round of the Tournament.
--NITTANY LIONS--