July 9, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team had its 2009 schedule announced by head coach Erica Walsh on Thursday. The 11-time defending Big Ten champs will host 10 regular-season home games at Jeffrey Field as well as play 10 NCAA Tournament teams from 2008.
The 2009 slate is once again one of the toughest schedules in the nation as the Nittany Lions will take on 10 NCAA Tournament teams from last season, five of which will be home games at Jeffrey Field.
Opening the season will be Virginia, who reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, August 21 at 7:00 p.m. on Jeffrey Field. A perennial-ranked power, the Cavaliers were 15-5-3 out of the ACC.
A week later the Nittany Lions host Brigham Young, Connecticut and West Virginia in the annual Penn State Invitational at Jeffrey on Saturday August 29 and Monday August 31. The doubleheader kicks off at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday as BYU takes on UConn setting the stage for a clash between NCAA Second Round squad West Virginia and PSU at 7:30 p.m. The Mountaineers went 14-3-6 en route to a #14 NSCAA ranking in the final poll in 2008.
Two days later the four teams will reconvene as BYU will tackle West Virginia at noon and a decade-long rivalry with UConn will be renewed when the Huskies face Penn State at 2:30 p.m. UConn was a disappointing 7-9-6, but reached the Big East Final last year before losing to Notre Dame.
The Nittany Lions' gauntlet continues in non-conference play when they travel to Tallahassee, Fla. to take on Florida State on September 4 7:00 p.m. The Seminoles were NCAA Quarterfinalists a year ago going 17-3-3.
Penn State returns to Happy Valley two days later in the hopes of revenge. Last season, Nittany Lions saw their season come to an end at the hands of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in double overtime, 2-1, in Piscataway, N.J. After going 1-1 against the Knights, the Lions will attempt to beat the NCAA Third Rounders for the eighth time in 11 tries. Rutgers went 13-7-2 in 2008.
The following week, Penn State travels to Connecticut to participate in the UConn Soccer Classic in Storrs. First up on September 11 will be Wake Forest, a team that reached the second round of NCAAs in 2008. The Lions have never faced the Demon Deacons, who went 13-8 last year ranking 25th by the NSCAA.
Two days later PSU plays Boston University, the only NCAA team on the schedule to lose its first round game, at 11:30 a.m., which will also be the first time the two squads will meet. BU was 15-6-1 last year, going a perfect 8-0-0 en route to its sixth America East title in the last nine years.
A week later PSU wraps up out-of-conference play when the Dukes of James Madison arrive at Jeffrey Field on Sunday, September 20 for a 1:00 p.m. matchup. The third-round participants have faced the Nittany Lions every year of Penn State's existence, last year taking a 1-0 win in Harrisonburg, Va. en route to a 14-7-2 record.
Three days later, the Nittany Lions travel down the road to Bucknell, an 11-6-3 squad a year ago, for a 7:00 p.m. mid-week tilt on September 23. Penn State is 13-0 all time against the Bison.
The Big Ten Conference slate of games starts with a big match against Michigan State in East Lansing. The Spartans took a 3-1 win at home last season before capitulating 1-0 to Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament a month later. MSU had one of its most successful seasons ever in 14-7-3 campaign, an NCAA Third Round appearance as well as boasting the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player and Freshman of the Year in Laura Heyboer.
A week off is all the Nittany Lions get to regroup prior to a October 4 clash against Ohio State who dealt only the second loss to Penn State in Big Ten play at Jeffrey Field when the Buckeyes took a 1-0 match on Halloween.
October 9 and 11 see Northwestern (10-9-1) and Iowa pay a visit to Jeffrey Park for a typical Friday/Sunday home stand. A week later, the Nittany Lions fly to the Midwest for a Friday night bout with Minnesota (22-4), an NCAA Third Round squad that fell twice to Penn State in 2008. PSU then travels down the road to Madison to take on former coach Paula Wilkins and company at Wisconsin (9-9-1) on Sunday October 18.
A week later sees the final NCAA Tournament team in the regular season when Illinois (12-9-2) travels to University Park for an October 25 showdown. Penn State wraps up its Big Ten regular season with a trip at Indiana (8-10-1) on October 29 before returning home for Senior Day against Purdue (12-7-3) the following Sunday and concluding with a game at Michigan (4-10-5) on Friday, November 6.
Overall, the schedule will plenty of quality competition to Penn State, who seeks its 14th-straight NCAA Tournament berth come November.
Check for constant updates of all the Nittany Lion soccer this season at www.GoPSUsports.com/sports/w-soccer.
HOME GAMES
| Sat. Aug. 15 | Pittsburgh ^ | 4:00 p.m. |
| Fri. Aug. 21 | Virginia | 7:00 p.m. |
| PENN STATE INVITATIONAL | ||
| Sat. Aug. 29 | BYU/Connecticut | 5:00 p.m. |
| PSU vs. West Virginia | 7:30 p.m. | |
| Mon. Aug. 31 | BYU/West Virginia | 12:00 p.m. |
| PSU vs. Connecticut | 2:30 p.m. | |
| Sun. Sep. 6 | Rutgers | 1:00 p.m. |
| Sun. Sep. 20 | James Madison | 1:00 p.m. |
| Sun. Oct. 4 | Ohio State * | 1:00 p.m. |
| Fri. Oct. 9 | Northwestern * | 7:00 p.m |
| Sun. Oct. 11 | Iowa * | 11:00 a.m. |
| Sun. Oct. 25 | Illinois * | 1:00 p.m. |
| Sun. Nov. 1 | Purdue *# | 12:00 p.m. |
^ - Exhibition; * - Big Ten Match; #-Senior Day
--NITTANY LIONS--