Nov. 8, 2010
PARK RIDGE, Ill. - Penn State women's soccer student-athletes Ali Schaefer (Las Vegas, Nev.), Bri Hovington (Lothian, Md.) and Taylor Schram (Canonsburg, Pa.) each earned weekly accolades on Monday. TopDrawerSoccer.com honored Ali Schaefer, while Hovington and Schram garnered Big Ten awards.
Schaefer, who was the golden goal hero on Sunday boosting Penn State to a 1-0 win over Michigan and its 13th straight Big Ten title, was placed on the TopDrawerSoccer.com Women's Team of the Week. The junior midfielder scored with just 17 seconds remaining in the second overtime to improve Penn State to a 10-8-1 overall record and 8-2-0 in Big Ten play.
For Hovington and Schram, each received their first weekly awards in their short collegiate careers. Hovington was the Co-Defensive Player of the Week with Ohio State goalkeeper Katie Baumgardner, for preventing Michigan's attack from scoring opportunities on Sunday. The Nittany Lion defense allowed just six attempts with Hovington highlighting Penn State's defensive play. Time and time again, Hovington shadowed U-M striker Nkem Ezurike and shut her down, while also making great backtracking tackles to prevent any Wolverine offense.
Schram's clever flick of the ball set up the goal for Schaefer in the 109th minute on Sunday. The freshman midfielder notched her third assist of the season on a short through ball over the top from Tani Costa (Honolulu, Hawaii), deftly putting it onto the foot of Schaefer who knocked it home for the historic goal.
Penn State won a share of the Big Ten title with Ohio State, who won the automatic bid on Friday with a win over Michigan State. The Nittany Lions have been one of the hottest teams in the country, winning four straight to end the season and eight of its last nine games dating back to Oct. 8. In the process, Penn State has out-scored the opposition, 24-7.
The Nittany Lions await their NCAA Tournament fate later this afternoon when the brackets are revealed on ESPNU at 4:30 p.m. Penn State has a 15-year consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak in hand and is looking for an at-large bid.
For complete coverage of Penn State women's soccer, please visit http://www.GoPSUsports.com/sports/w-soccer.
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--NITTANY LIONS--