March 14, 2008
Some parts of this released are used courtesy of U.S. Soccer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- With a Nittany Lion in goal for each squad, current starter and All-American Alyssa Naeher and the U.S. Under-20 Team were narrowly defeated, 3-2, by the full Canadian National Team and Penn State All-America alumna Erin McLeod. The loss came at the end of a great run for the U.S. with wins over the Full Women's National Teams from Scotland (2-1) and Holland (2-0), while falling to Russia (0-2) and Canada (3-2).
Naeher started three of the four games the U.S. team played, including a 2-1 win vs. Scotland, where she had six saves, and a shutout victory vs. The Netherlands. Tallying seven saves vs. Holland, Naeher earned high praise from U.S. head coach Tony DiCicco. Naeher went 2-1 in the tournament after the tight loss to Canada. The U.S. U-20s are currently in preparations for qualifying for the 2008 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup to be held in Chile from Nov. 20-Dec. 7.
McLeod and the Canadian National Team are preparing for the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, being held from April 2-12. The winners of the semifinal matches earn berths to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Penn State head coach Erica Walsh will also be at the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament as an assistant for the U.S. Women's National Team.
In just her second year with the Nittany Lions, Naeher's 2007 first All-America honor cemented her position as the nation's top goalkeeper after only her sophomore campaign. The Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Year, she finished the year with a 0.62 goals per game average (best ever by a PSU sophomore and 18th nationally), including a tiny 0.39 goals against mark in conference play. Naeher came up with the big saves when Penn State needed them, tallying 103 stops and posting a 0.873 save percentage, which was 12th in the nation. 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 was honored as a first team All-Big Ten pick, marking her second all-conference award after being named to the league's second team last year. She is Penn State's third goalkeeper to earn All-America honors as Emily Oleksiuk (1999, 2000 and 2001) and McLeod (2004- third team, 2005) both previously earned All-America nods at the position.
McLeod paced the Lions in goal during the 2005 season, earning All-America honors and NCAA College Cup All-Tournament recognition. She held eventual champion Portland scoreless through two overtimes in the national semifinal last year before the Nittany Lions faced a 4-3 penalty kick disadvantage which ended the team's season. McLeod left Penn State owning several goalkeeping records including career goals against average (0.641, 2004-05) and career winning percentage (39-2-3, .921, 2004-05). She was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and also earned NSCAA Scholar All-America honors. After debuting with the Canada National Team in 2002, McLeod has earned 37 international caps with Canada.
--NITTANY LIONS--