June 18, 2009
CLEVELAND, Ohio.; June 18, 2009 - Rising senior forward Katie Schoepfer (Waterford, Conn.) tallied two goals in a 2-1 win with the U.S. U-23 team on Tuesday over FC Indiana of the W-League. Schoepfer will be training on and off with the U.S. squad throughout the summer before her final season in Happy Valley begins this August.
Schoepfer has been making the switch from playing at the collegiate level for head coach Erica Walsh to the national level with stints, such this one, alongside the U-23 squad.
"Playing at a great school like Penn State makes the transition to playing with US National Team really easy," Schoepfer said. "Since I train at a very high level with coaches who expect the most from me all the time at school, it is easy to do that with the National Program."
Prior to this run with the U-23's, Schoepfer was a member of the U-20 training camp in 2000, 2006 and 2007. Last year she joined the squad in a match against England in March of 2008 before a three-game tour of Northern Ireland earlier this spring. Playing so often with the same group has helped with the team's cohesiveness.
"The team is pretty tight knit and the coaches really know what they are talking about," Schoepfer remarked. "They really help us all become better players."
For the time being, Schoepfer and company will be playing and training in Cleveland before embarking on a trip to London in early July, but a busy schedule hasn't deterred PSU's seventh all-time leading goal scorer from adding a 12th Big Ten Championship to the team's wall this fall.
My summer has been pretty hectic, but in a good way," added Schoepfer. "I am working out everyday with a few girls on the team who have stayed to take summer school. Also, I am going in and out with the National team so I get in some good games every couple of weeks. I lift twice a week and run or do aerobic exercise everyday to make sure I am ready to go for my senior year."
Currently, Schoepfer sits seventh in goals scored with 34 and seventh all-time in assists (13) and points (85) with a returning cast that is poised to capture the squad's 12th-consecutive Big Ten title.
--NITTANY LIONS--