Aug. 19, 2009
OAKLAND, Calif.--The Penn State women's soccer team received positive preseason reviews from Soccer America on Wednesday as the team was ranked sixth in the nation and Alyssa Naeher garnered First Team All-America billing. The Nittany Lions were tabbed No. 12 in the NSCAA rankings released last week.
Penn State, which finished outside the final NSCAA rankings for the first time since 1994, has earned impressive preseason reviews so far. The Big Ten coaches voted the Lions to grab their 12th-straight Big Ten title, while the national coaches ranked them 12th, the highest non-ranked 2008 squad.
North Carolina took the top spot at No. 1 with Stanford, UCLA, Portland and Notre Dame rounding out the top five. Eight PSU opponents dot the Nittany Lions' schedule, which includes Florida State (6th), Virginia (11th), West Virginia (16th), Michigan State (18th), Connecticut (20th), Rutgers (21st), Illinois (23rd) and James Madison (25th).
Naeher was the lone Nittany Lion listed on either of the All-American teams by Soccer America. Earning preseason First Team honors, Soccer America presents Naeher as the top goalkeeper in the nation. Naeher has been a First Team All-American the past two seasons.
The No. 12/6 Nittany Lions open the season against No. 9/11 Virginia at 7:00 p.m. Friday. The event, a CODE BLUE event will coincide with the overall theme of the evening dubbed "Be Loud, Be Proud, The Largest Crowd," which is attempting to stir up all the Penn State soccer fans to join the team to beat the Cavaliers.
The largest crowd to date came in a match against UCLA on August 25, 2006, the only game ever to eclipse the 3,000 mark. That match ended up with 3,208 fans, which witnessed a thrilling 2-1 win over the No. 2 ranked squad in the country on opening day. The 2009 team looks for similar results on Friday.
Soccer America Women's Preseason Top 25
1. North Carolina (25-1-2)
2. Stanford (22-2-1)
3. UCLA (22-1-2)
4. Portland (20-2-0)
5. Notre Dame (26-1-0)
6. Penn State (16-8-0)
7. Florida State (17-3-3)
8. Boston College (15-6-2)
9. Texas A&M (18-5-1)
10. Florida (19-4-1)
11. Virginia (15-5-3)
12. USC (16-5-2)
13. Missouri (16-5-2)
14. Duke (15-6-3)
15. San Diego (15-5-2)
16. West Virginia (14-3-6)
17. Colorado (14-5-4)
18. Michigan State (14-7-3)
19. California (10-9-1)
20. Connecticut (7-9-6)
21. Rutgers (13-7-2)
22. Washington State (10-6-5)
23. Illinois (12-9-2)
24. Oklahoma State (18-1-4)
25. James Madison (14-7-2)
For complete coverage of all the Nittany Lion soccer this season, go to www.GoPSUsports.com/sports/w-soccer.
Follow Penn State women's soccer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PSUWomensSoccer.
--NITTANY LIONS--