June 2, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.--Head coach Erica Walsh announced the hiring of Tim Wassell, former head coach of Penn State Altoona women's soccer, as the Nittany Lion women's soccer goalkeeper coach on Wednesday.
"Tim has been a part of the Penn State family for many years and we're thrilled to finally make him an official part of our staff," Walsh said. "His passion for goalkeeping, combined with his strong ties to this region and head coaching experience, made him the obvious choice for this position."
Wassell joins Penn State for the 2010 season after a successful stint at the Altoona campus. Over the past three seasons, Wassell led the women's program there to a 48-11-5 overall record, while taking home NSCAA Great Lakes Coach of the Year honors in 2008. He was also named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2008.
"I'm tremendously excited and honored to join the women's soccer staff at Penn State," Wassell noted. "I have great respect and admiration for the tradition that has been built in Happy Valley and I am eager to contribute to the future successes of the program."
While with the Nittany Lions in Altoona, Wassell's defense oriented teams posted 39 shutouts in 64 games as the squad set new marks for wins in every year of his tenure with 13, 17, and 18, respectively. During the 2008 campaign, his Altoona team posted the third-best goals against average in Division III at 0.34.
Eighteen Lions earned All-AMCC honors and 24 were named to the Academic All-AMCC team during the three-year era, which outscored opponents 172-40. Additionally, Wassell's charges collected three NSCAA Great Lakes All-Region selections, including the only freshman on the first or second team in 2008. The team reached the 2008 NCAA Division III Tournament, falling 1-0 to Otterbein. During that season, PSU Altoona went without a loss in the regular season.
Prior to taking over the reigns at Altoona, he served as the goalkeeping coach in 2006 for both the men's and women's teams. For the men's squad at Altoona, the team posted the best goals against average in the conference and second best mark in shutouts. The team finished top 25 nationally in GAA with a 0.63 average.
As a goalkeeping at PSU Altoona, Wassell was a two-time NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region selection in 2004 and 2005 and a two-time All-AMCC First Team selection as well. He was named the 2005 PSU Altoona Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was mentioned amongst the coaches of the AMCC as the Preseason Player of the Year in 2005. In both 2004 and 2005, Wassell led the AMCC in save percentage, shutouts and GAA, completing his two-year tenure between the pipes with a school-record 0.71 GAA.
A highlight to his success at PSU Altoona was a 641-minute shutout streak during the 2004 season, which ranks in the top 15 in Division III history. Wassell was an accomplished student with two Academic All-AMCC honors, a spot on the PSU Altoona Dean's List every semester and a 3.72 cumulative grade point average. Prior to his time at Altoona, Wassell was a member of the East Stroudsburg squad from 2000-02, earning two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships with an NCAA Final Four appearance in 2000.
Wassell, a Hollidaysburg, Pa. native, earned his bachelor's degree in business at PSU Altoona. He also has gained NSCAA National and Goalkeeping Coaching Diplomas during the course of his coaching career.
Penn State women's soccer returns two young goalkeepers in Krissy Tribbett (Centennial, Colo.) and Kristin Hartmann (Katy, Texas). Tribbett redshirted the 2009 season after a successful 2008 freshman campaign spelling three-time All-American Alyssa Naeher for seven appearances and three starts. Hartmann, who redshirted her freshman year in 2008, made four relief appearances in net for the Lions last season without a goal allowed. Both will compete for a starting spot this season.
Previous goalkeeper coach Mariel Wilner was offered and accepted a full-time assistant coaching position with the Utah women's soccer program earlier this spring. Wilner joined Walsh's staff in 2007 and coached Alyssa Naeher to three NSCAA All-America honors, including two first team selections in 2007 and 2008.
In addition to Wassell's hire, the Nittany Lions also announced two additions to their roster in Corrinne Mazzotta (Haddam, Conn.) and Tara Barr (Flourtown, Pa.). Mazzotta was a standout sophomore student-athlete at Penn State Harrisburg a year ago, while Barr is an incoming freshman goalkeeper out of Mount St. Joseph Academy in suburban Philadelphia.
Penn State's preseason workouts are scheduled to begin Friday, Aug. 6 as the Nittany Lions prepare to take on Villanova in an exhibition game on Aug. 14. Penn State will travel to Villanova for the scrimmage, which is scheduled to take place at 3:00 p.m. The first official game of the season is an Aug. 20 matchup at regional rival West Virginia. The home opener at Jeffrey Field is against Virginia on Aug. 27 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Penn State Invitational.
For more information the Penn State Sport Camps 2010 visit http://www.outreach.psu.edu/psu-sport-camps/
For complete coverage of Penn State women's soccer, please visit http://www.GoPSUsports.com/sports/w-soccer.
Follow Penn State women's soccer on Twitter: @PSUWomensSoccer
--NITTANY LIONS--