Dec. 8, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The National Soccer Coaches Association of America released its All-America selections over the weekend, and representing Penn State at the top of the list was junior goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher (Seymour, Conn.) on the first team. This is the second time in her career that she has been presented with his honor.
Naeher anchored a defense that shut out 11 opponents this year collecting a conference high 90 saves with 4.29 per game throughout the year. She led the Nittany Lions to an 11th consecutive Big Ten Championship and a fifth Big Ten Tournament Championship earning first team all-conference and Defensive Player of the Tournament honors along the way.
Other accolades on Naeher's resume from this season include Big Ten Defensive player of the Week and Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week for Oct. 22. Additionally, she was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team this fall.
For the past three weeks, Naeher has been in Chile with the U.S. U-20 Women's National Team, and made history Sunday evening as she became the first Nittany Lion ever to win a World Cup in a 2-1 decision over North Korea. She collected four shutouts in six games to earn the Golden Glove Award as best goalkeeper of the tournament.
Naeher has been keeping a blog about the U-20 WNT and the World Cup. To read about her experiences, go to the Naeher's Notes tab on the women's soccer page.