Aug. 19, 2010
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 13th-ranked Penn State women's soccer team look to win its third straight season opener when they take on No. 24 West Virginia on Friday in Morgantown, W. Va. at 7:00 p.m.
Penn State begins its quest for a 13th straight Big Ten championship on Friday against a venerable opponent in the Mountaineers. West Virginia has won the last four times against the Nittany Lions, each in heartbreaking fashion--by one-goal.
PSU returns four All-Big Ten performers in Danielle Toney (Northville, Mich.), Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.), Lexi Marton (Aurora, Ontario) and Meghan Gill (State College, Pa.)
#13 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
at
#24 WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS
Game #1: August 20, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. • Dick Dlesk Stadium • Morgantown, W. Va.
Nittany Lion fans making the trip to Morgantown are advised to arrive early as there is a large crowd expected. Tickets can be purchased at Dlesk Stadium for $1.
GAME DAY
VENUE (CAPACITY): Dick Dlesk Stadium (1,650)
SURFACE: Grass
COVERAGE: Video Streaming thru MSNsportsNet.com/Mountaineer.tv
TALENT: TBA
SERIES RECORD VS.WVU: Penn State trails 2-4-0
LAST MEETING: 8/29/09, WVU 2-1 at University Park, Pa.
NEXT GAME: 8/27 vs. Virginia (Penn State Invitational)
GAME STORIES
• Nittany Lions begin quest for 13th straight Big Ten title at West Virginia
• Penn State opens 2010 on the road for the third time in past four years
• PSU is 11-5 all-time in season openers and on a two-game winning streak
• Lions returns two All-Big Ten First Team members and two Second Teamers
• West Virginia holds a 4-2-0 all-time record in series, including 1-0-0 at home
• Penn State picked to win Big Ten for 13th straight time
• Lions host Penn State Invitational starting 8/27 vs. Virginia in search of the program's largest crowd at Jeffrey Field.
GAME NOTES
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS: No. 24 West Virginia returns an experienced squad from its 2009 NCAA Tournament team in search of its fifth Big East divisional crown this year. Although NSCAA All-American midfielder Carolyn Blank is gone, WVU poses plenty of firepower for the Nittany Lions. Back are senior Meghan Miscler (team-leading 5 goals, 12 points), junior Blake Miller (3 goals, 8 points) and Canadian sophomores Caroline Szwed (team-leading 6 assists, 8 points), Bry McCarty (3 goals, 7 points). In net is the steady force of senior Kerri Butler, who is seven shutouts away from setting the WVU record for a career. While the Mountaineers struggled to score in 2009, Butler kept teams out of the net at a better rate, giving up just 16 goals in nearly 2,200 minutes. She posted a goals against average of 0.67 with 72 saves (.818) with 12 shutouts. The Mountaineers played two exhibition games in preparation for the season, dropping both contests. Indiana defeated WVU 4-1 in Morgantown, while Wake Forest took out the Mountaineers, 2-0 in Winston-Salem.
SERIES HISTORY: West Virginia has gotten the better of Penn State in the series, posting four wins in six matches, winning the last four. PSU and WVU first met in 2003 with Penn State upsetting the eighth-ranked Mountaineers in Morgantown, 4-1. PSU faced West Virginia again in 2005 during the NCAA Tournament in which the Nittany Lions won 5-2 en route to a College Cup appearance. The last time Penn State visited WVU was Erica Walsh's fourth game with Penn State, which was a 1-0 loss to the 18th-ranked Mountaineers.
EXHIBITION WIN: The Nittany Lions kicked off the 2010 season in impressive fashion, slotting five tallies in a 5-2 win over Villanova. Danielle Toney notched two goals, while freshmen strikers Maya Hayes, Hayley Brock and Ellen Arnaud each notched a marker.
Junior defender Emma Thomson |
LION LEADERS: Penn State has two captains this season in senior Megan Monroig and junior Emma Thomson. The duo were selected as the leaders of the team during spring play.
MONTHLY WINS: Penn State will play its 20th August game against the Mountaineers. PSU has posted a record of 12-7-1 all-time in August, good for a .625 winning percentage. Three games will be played in August this season.
ALL-BIG TEN RETURNERS: Penn State boasts a core group of returning All-Big Ten recipients from a year ago in `09 first-team returners Danielle Toney and Christine Nairn. Nairn was a unanimous first-team selection as well as the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year, while fellow classmate Lexi Marton earned second-team honors and a unanimous All-Freshman selection. Redshirt-junior Meghan Gill is PSU's fourth All-Big Ten returner as she was a second team member in 2008.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: Penn State faced off against the seventh toughest schedule in the NCAA last season. The 2010 slate is assured to be tough with nine NCAA teams on the docket. For the complete breakdown of the schedule, please refer to the game notes
RANKINGS: The Nittany Lions were pegged 13th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) on Tuesday, Aug. 10. No. 13 Penn State will face four opponents ranked in the preseason top 25 this season. Four Penn State opponents Â- No. 24 West Virginia, No. 17 Virginia, No. 5 Portland and No. 20 Wisconsin - are on the slate with two of those games coming at home. Another five teams - Connecticut, Washington, Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue - received votes in the preseason poll. In all, the Big Ten had two representatives (Penn State and Wisconsin) in the top 25 with MSU, OSU and Purdue as the final Big Ten schools receiving votes. The Nittany Lions were also ranked in the Soccer America poll at 11th. Wisconsin was again the only other Big Ten representative, checking in at 16th.
TROPHY CANDIDATES: Senior forward Danielle Toney and sophomore midfielder Christine Nairn were named to the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Watch List for the 2010 season on Wednesday, Aug. 11. The Lions were one of 10 teams who had multiple student-athletes named to the 45-player list. Five schools (Boston College, UCLA, Notre Dame, Portland and Stanford) had three representatives, while Penn State joined Memphis, Florida State, Oklahoma State and reigning national champion North Carolina each had two. The Nittany Lion pair gave Penn State the only multi-representative Big Ten school on the list. Additionally, Nairn was named a preseason All-American by Soccer America on Thursday, Aug. 19.
Sophomore midfielder Christine Nairn |
WORLD CUP ODYSSEY: Two Nittany Lions, Christine Nairn and Maya Hayes, participated in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup staged in Germany this past summer for the United States. Nairn served as co-captain of the squad, starting all four games, while Hayes made four appearances with two starts and two assists. The U.S. won its group with a 2-0-1 record, but fell in the quarterfinals of the tournament in controversial fashion to Nigeria. After a 1-1 draw, the U.S. and Nigeria went to penalty kicks where the U.S. `keeper made two saves on the same Nigerian, only to have the kick retaken. Nigeria prevailed 4-2 on PKs.
RULING THE ROOST: The Big Ten coaches' preseason predictions were released on Wednesday, Aug. 17 and Penn State was tabbed to claim its 13th-straight Big Ten title. Ohio State and Wisconsin were tabbed No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Michigan State was No. 2 and Illinois No. 3. Rounding out the top five are Michigan State and Purdue.
PACK THE JEFF TO 4,500: Last season, Penn State Athletics organized its biggest women's soccer promotion in history as the efforts to fill Jeffrey Field for the season opener vs. Virginia (8/21/09), bringing in 3,098 fans, second most in its history. This year, Penn State is asking to eclipse that mark and then some wiht he hope of reaching 4,500 fans for this year's Virginia game on Aug. 27 at 7:30 p.m. The goal is to have fans be a part of the largest crowd in stadium history, which would mean having more than 3,208 spectators present, the record set in a 2006 match against UCLA. Last year, Penn State ranked ninth in the nation in average attendance (1,198) and tops in the Big Ten. Three of the top 10 largest crowds have occurred last year at Jeffrey. Penn State is looking to see 15,000 fans head out to Jeffrey Field this season and making the stadium the most fearsome field in the country.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Nittany Lions will host the Penn State Invitational next week when Virginia, Connecticut and William & Mary come to University Park. Below is the schedule of events.
Friday, August 27
5:00 p.m. - Connecticut vs. William & Mary
7:30 p.m. - PENN STATE vs. Virginia
Sunday, August 29
Noon - Virginia vs. Connecticut
2:30 p.m. - PENN STATE vs. William & Mary
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--NITTANY LIONS--