Sept. 8, 2011
vs. Central Florida: Live Stats | at Virginia: Live Stats (TBA) | Live Video
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women's soccer team looks to extend its five-game winning streak when it opens play on Friday vs. UCF at the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic. The Nittany Lions play the Knights at 4:30 p.m. on Friday before a Sunday showdown with No. 7 Virginia at 2:00 p.m.
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
vs.
CENTRAL FLORIDA KNIGHTS
Game #7: Sept. 9, 2011 | 4:30 p.m. | Klöckner Stadium | Charlottesville, Va.
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
at
#7 VIRGINIA CAVALIERS
Game #8: Sept. 11, 2011 | 2:00 p.m. | Klöckner Stadium | Charlottesville, Va.
GAME DAY
VENUE (CAPACITY): Klöckner Stadium (3,600)
SURFACE: Grass
STREAMING COVERAGE: VirginiaSports.com Video (vs. UVa)
SERIES RECORD VS. UCF: 1-0-0
LAST MEETING: 9/2/07, Penn State 1-0 (at Knoxville, Tenn.)
SERIES RECORD VS. UVA: 5-2-1
LAST MEETING: 8/27/10, 1-1 draw (at University Park, Pa.)
NEXT GAME: 9/17/11 at Wisconsin, 1:00 p.m. ET
GAME STORIES
• Nittany Lions travel to Virginia Nike Soccer Classic to face UCF and UVa
• Penn State coming off 3-1 and 3-0 wins over N.C. State & Pittsburgh
• Maya Hayes repeated as Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and earned Soccer America's and TopDrawerSoccer's National Player of the Week for five-goal weekend
• Nittany Lions have led for 306 of the last 450 minutes during five-game winning streak
• Penn State has tallied 25 assists on 18 goals with three Nittany Lions tallying five apiece
• Christine Nairn moved into sole possession of 10th in all-time assists at Penn State
GAME STORIES
VIRGINIA NIKE CLASSIC SCHEDULE: Penn State plays UCF at 5 p.m. on Friday before host Virginia takes on Washington State at 7:30 p.m. Sunday's action sees Wazzu play Central Florida at 11 a.m. before the PSU-Virginia showdown at 2:00 p.m. The Cavaliers has won the last four Virginia Nike Soccer Classic titles and 14 of 24 tournaments in history.
Friday, September 9
4:30 p.m. - PENN STATE vs. Central Florida
7:30 p.m. - Washington State at Virginia
Sunday, September 11
11:00 a.m. - Washington State vs. Central Florida
2:00 p.m. - PENN STATE at Virginia
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS: UCF (2-1-1) arrives in Charlottesville after a successful 1-0-1 California road trip, which featured drastically different matches. The two-time defending Conference USA champions played to a wild 4-4 double-overtime tie at No. 22 San Diego State after blowing a two-goal lead and coming back from 4-3. Two days later, UCF upset No. 25 San Diego, 1-0, to move above .500 for the season. Tishia Jewell and Bianca Joswiak lead the attack, totaling 15 of the team's 31 points this season off five goals and give assists. Jewell jumpstarts the offense with her four assists, while Joswiak leads the team with three goals. Last year, Jewell scored 10 times and assisted 12 other goals for a 32-point total. Playing all the minutes in net has been Aline Reis, a fifth-year senior. Reis has posted a 1.42 GAA and a .739 save percentage in the early stages of 2011 with one shutout, which came against USD.
SERIES HISTORY vs. UCF: Penn State is 1-0-0 against Central Florida all-time. That lone win was noteworthy because it was head coach Erica Walsh's first victory for the Blue and White. The Nittany Lions used an Aubrey Aden-Buie blast in the 72nd minute to defeat the Knights in Knoxville, Tenn. As that game was, Friday's will be a neutral site competition for the second meeting.
SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS: No. 7 Virginia (6-0-0) will be playing its eighth and final non-conference game against the Nittany Lions on Sunday after a Friday clash against Washington State on Friday. The Cavs inexplicably fell three spots in the latest NSCAA rankings after successful 3-0 and 4-0 wins over Arizona State and Drexel, respectively last weekend. UVa has out-scored its opponents 26-3 this season, while out-shooting the opposition, 137-27. Caroline Miller leads all `Hoos with six tallies, while Virginia has had 13 different goal scorers this season. Miller also has 15 points this year, trailed closely by Gloria Douglas (3G, 5A) and Julia Roberts (3G, 3A) with 11 and nine points, respectively. In net, super senior Chantel Jones has allowed just three goals for a .750 save percentage and a 0.50 goals against average in 540 minutes of game time.
SERIES HISTORY vs. UVA: Quickly becoming one of the fiercest inter-conference rivalries in women's college soccer, Penn State-Virginia has lent many exciting moments over the recent years. Penn State leads the all-time record at 5-2-1, but Virginia is 1-0-1 in the past two meetings. This will be only the second visit to Charlottesville the Nittany Lions have made in nine meetings. On Sept. 8, 1998, then-No.16 PSU raced out of Klöckner Stadium with a 2-1 overtime win over No. 6 Virginia.
Christine Nairn and Krissy Tribbett show off the Pitt Soccer Classic hardware. |
PITT SOCCER CLASSIC CHAMPIONS: Maya Hayes notched her first career hat trick and 20th in program history as Penn State ran away from Pittsburgh, 3-0, at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Sept. 4. Hayes scored in the 18th, 78th and 85th minutes, while PSU out-shot Pitt, 28-3. The victory gave PSU its fifth straight overall, the longest streak since a five-gamer Oct. 25-Nov. 13, 2009, and second straight tournament after taking the Penn State Invitational the previous week. Erin McNulty recorded her first solo shutout for the Nittany Lions. Hayes was named MVP of the tournament, while Christine Nairn, Emma Thomson and Taylor Schram were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Two days earlier, Penn State won its first comeback match of the season in a 3-1 victory over North Carolina State on Sept. 2. Hayes recorded a two-goal, five-point effort, while her counterpart up top, Schram, made her homecoming well known with a game-icing goal in the second half. Fellow Pittsburgh native Jackie Molinda added her firs career assist, while Jess Rosenbluth and Emily Hurd each had a helper. Nairn had her second two-assist day of the year to move into 10th all-time in PSU history. Hayes scored in the 40th minute to tie the game before scoring her sixth goal of the season in the 51st. Schram iced the game in the 69th minute off a cross from Hurd.
LEADING & SHUTTING OUT FOES: Following PSU's game at No. 2 Stanford, the Nittany Lions have trailed in a match this season for just 17 minutes vs. N.C. State. In fact, Penn State has led for over 306 of 450 minutes of game time during the five-match winning streak.
HAYES SWEEPS AGAIN: For the second straight week Maya Hayes received top honors from regional and national publications. The Big Ten bestowed the Offensive Player of the Week honor (shared with Nebraska's Morgan Marlborough) on Hayes, while TopDrawerSoccer.com tabbed Hayes the National Player of the Week. Hayes was also recognized as the SoccerSavings.com/Philly Soccer News Player of the Week for the second straight time. And released late Wednesday, she was tabbed Soccer America's National Player of the Week. Hayes currently leads the Big Ten and NCAA Division I with nine goals through Sept. 4.
MAY I HELP YOU?: An important aspect to possession-based play that head coach Erica Walsh has instilled in the Nittany Lions is the finish off combination plays. This season has seen all 18 goals scored by the Nittany Lions helped by an assist. Against West Virginia, PSU set a new school record with nine helpers, led by Taylor Schram's career-high three. Four of the five goals PSU scored that night featured double assists and the Lions would add two more double assists in its game against N.C. State. In all, three Nittany Lions-Christine Nairn, Jess Rosenbluth and Schram-lead the Big Ten in assists with five apiece. Ten Nittany Lions have tallied helpers this season including goalkeeper Erin McNulty, who started a Maya Hayes goal in the team's season opener vs. WVU.
MONTHLY WINS: Penn State continues September in Charlottesville with a 2-0-0 record. In all, the Lions play nine matches in the ninth month of the year. The Nittany Lions are 108-28-13 all-time in September for a .768 winning percentage. PSU went 3-1-0 this past August to up its all-time record to 16-9-2 (.630).
PENN STATE INVITATIONAL DOMINATION: The Nittany Lions exited the Penn State Invitational as champions after a 2-0-0 record and a +8 goal differential. The Nittany Lions scored early and often as it trounced No. 17 West Virginia, 5-0, at Jeffrey Field on Friday night (Aug. 26). PSU put three on the board in the first eight minutes of play. Taylor Schram notched a five-point night with three assists as the Nittany Lions set a new school record for most helpers in a game with nine. Midfielders Maddy Evans and Jess Rosenbluth tallied three-point evenings, netting the first two goals to shock the Mountaineers. PSU set a new school record for assists in a game with nine. One of those assists came from an unusual source as goalkeeper Erin McNulty set up the third goal in the eighth minute on a clearance to Schram, whose header was inch-perfect for Hayes. Christine Nairn also managed two helpers and Bri Garcia chipped in with one of her own.
On Sunday (Aug. 28), Penn State team took a while to get on the board, but when it did, Richmond could not respond in a 3-0 victory. Rosenbluth scored and assisted another for a three-point afternoon, while Hayes's fourth goal of the season proved to be the game-winner. Jackie Molinda notched the final tally of the weekend, her first goal of the 2011 season. McNulty put on another fine show in net to help lead Penn State to its third straight shutout, the longest such streak for PSU since Nov. 1-13, 2009.
CENTURY MARK: The 5-0 win over West Virginia not only marked the largest margin of victory over WVU, it was head coach Erica Walsh's 100th victory in her career. Previously in charge at Dartmouth and Harvard, Walsh has compiled a 61-28-5 (.676) record at Penn State for a 101-56-8 (.636) overall record.
AUGUST'S WEEKLY ACCOLADES: Penn State's 2-0-0 weekend with a combined 8-0 score over WVU and Richmond did not go unnoticed by regional, conference and national publications this week (Aug. 31). Maya Hayes racked up three honors: Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, Philly Soccer News Player of the Week and a spot on the Soccer America Team of the Week. Nittany Lions midfielders Christine Nairn and Jess Rosenbluth landed on the CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Performer list and TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week, respectively.
CALIFORNIA SPLIT: PSU showed no ill effects of a 4-0 loss at No. 2 Stanford, pushing play from beginning to end, opening a 2-0 halftime lead behind the strength of Kori Chapic's and Emily Hurd's goals as Penn State downed Nevada 4-0 on Aug. 21. The freshman duo lifted the Nittany Lions early and led Penn State to the easy victory. Sophomores Maya Hayes and Taylor Schram notched goals in the second half, while Jess Rosenbluth supplied two helpers and Bri Garcia chipped in with one of her own. Erin McNulty and Krissy Tribbett combined on PSU's first shutout of the year.
LION LEADERS: Penn State has two captains this season in senior Emma Thomson and junior Lexi Marton. The duo were selected as the leaders of the team during spring play.
MONTHLY WINS: Penn State open September in Pittsburgh and play nine matches in the ninth month of the year. The Nittany Lions are 106-28-13 all-time in September for a .765 winning percentage. PSU went 3-1-0 this past August to up its record to 16-9-2 (.630) all-time.
TROPHY CANDIDATE: Penn State junior midfielder Christine Nairn was honored by three separate national entities in the preseason. Nairn was featured on the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List as well as Soccer America's Preseason All-America roster and TopDrawerSoccer.com's Top 100 Upperclasswomen.
RULING THE ROOST: The Big Ten coaches' preseason predictions were released on Wednesday, Aug. 16 and Penn State was tabbed to claim its 14th-straight Big Ten title. Ohio State and Wisconsin were tabbed No. 2 and No. 3, respectively for the second straight year.
NEXT TIME OUT:  The Nittany Lions will travel for the third time in four weeks to start the season as they take part in the Nike Virginia Classic. Penn State plays Central Florida at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9 before taking on sixth-ranked Virginia at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11 in Charlottesville.
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--NITTANY LIONS--