Nov. 1, 2010
PARK RIDGE, Ill. - Penn State women's soccer forward Tani Costa (Honolulu, Hawaii) was named the Big Ten's Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week on Monday afternoon. Additionally, Costa garnered TopDrawerSoccer.com's Player of the Week honor. The redshirt-freshman put five goals in the net last week in two games against Indiana and Purdue.
Costa, now a two-time Freshman of the Week honoree, earned her first Offensive Player of the Week accolade thanks to her impressive five-goal performance. The standout forward notched her first career hat trick against Indiana on Thursday, Oct. 28 in a 6-1 Penn State win before collecting two more goals against Purdue on Sunday in another 6-1 win in West Lafayette, Ind. Previously, Costa was named the league's best freshman on Oct. 11 for her three-point day at Iowa.
The award from TopDrawerSoccer.com is Penn State's first of the 2010 season, headlining the site's weekly awards. TopDrawerSoccer.com names 11 players a week in its honor roll.
Costa leads the Big Ten in Conference points and is tied for first in goals, while holding those two top spots amongst all Big Ten freshman in Conference games. The Hawaiian native shot up the Penn State charts to top the scoring ledger with her eight goals this season, putting her second on the team in points with 19.
Penn State has now won three in a row and is tied atop the standings with Ohio State with 21 points from nine games. Wisconsin, a point behind both teams, faces off with Northwestern tonight in its final game. Ohio State plays Michigan State on Friday at home, while Penn State takes on Michigan on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. A Nittany Lion win over the Wolverines on the Big Ten Network guarantees PSU a share of its 13th straight Big Ten title, while a win and a non-win result from Ohio State gives Penn State the solo title and the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Penn State-Michigan match will celebrate two Nittany Lion seniors: Megan Monroig (Northumberland, Pa.) and Danielle Toney (Northville, Mich.). Sunday will be Pink Day at Jeffrey Field as all proceeds and event donations will go to the WBCA PinkZone event in connection with the Lady Lion basketball team's program, which will take place in February. Fans will have an opportunity to donate to the cause for special Penn State women's soccer t-shirts, signed soccer balls and other great items at the stadium.
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
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--NITTANY LIONS--