Oct. 27, 2011
Friday vs. PURDUE: | Big Ten Network (tape delay, 10/30)
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The 12th-ranked Nittany Lion women's soccer team hosts its final regular season home match on Friday celebrating Senior Night against Purdue at 7:00 p.m. Come early for the match that will send off six Nittany Lions into the graduate ranks and take photos with the Big Ten trophy, which will be on display in the West Stands near Beaver Stadium.
#12 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (16-3-0, 9-1-0 Big Ten)
vs.
PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (7-10-2, 4-5-1 Big Ten)
Game #20: Oct. 28, 2011 | 7:00 p.m. | Jeffrey Field | University Park, Pa.
PROMOTIONS
Friday vs. Purdue: The final home game of the 2011 season will honor the Nittany Lion seniors with a pre-game ceremony starting at 6:45 p.m. as well as celebrating Penn State's 14th straight Big Ten title. The trophy will be on display in the East Stands nearest to Beaver Stadium where fans can take photos with the trophy.
Park Avenue Army will once again be hosting a BBQ cookout in the parking lot and the Nittany Lions will welcome back all the women's soccer alumnae.
At halftime, the 11 members of the Penn State men's soccer team will take on 100 youth members of Centre Soccer Association before a Halloween Costume Contest, with the winner taking home a great prize. Stick around for the end of the match a post-game celebration with the team for another Big Ten regular season title.
GAME DAY
VENUE (SURFACE, CAPACITY): Jeffrey Field (Grass; 5,000)
TELEVISION COVERAGE: Big Ten Network (tape delay, 10/30 at 6 p.m.)
SERIES RECORD VS. PUR: 10-1-1 (6-0-0 at Jeffrey Field)
LAST MEETING: 10/30/10, PSU 6-1 at West Lafayette, Ind.
NEXT GAME: 11/2 at Northwestern (Big Ten Tournament)
GAME STORIES
• Nittany Lions take on the Boilermakers on Senior Night at Jeffrey Field
• Meghan Gill, Carly Niness, Jess Rosenbluth, Ali Schaefer, Emma Thomson and Krissy Tribbett to be honored prior to Friday's match
• Penn State looks to improve upon 11-game winning streak, best since 2005
• PSU clinched outright claim to 14th straight Big Ten title in 4-0 win at Michigan
• Taylor Schram scored game-winner at U-M, Maya Hayes scored twice, Schaefer once
• Lions won first game in East Lansing since 2005 in comeback fashion, 3-1, on Friday
• Hayes scored twice, Maddy Evans tallied a goal to lead PSU over MSU
• Maya Hayes leads NCAA Division I in goals (25), game-winners (9) and points (57)
• Schram is first PSU player to record double digit goals & assists since `04 Tiffany Weimer
• Penn State has tallied 69 assists, a new school record, on 54 goals in 2011
GAME NOTES
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS: Purdue (7-10-2, 4-5-1 Big Ten) enters Friday with its season on the line in a nearly win-or-go-home situation. The Boilermakers salvaged an important split at Minnesota (2-1) after a 5-1 loss at Wisconsin this past weekend sitting in a tie for seventh in the Big Ten. In order to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, Purdue will most likely need points as the top seven teams qualify automatically with Northwestern earning a spot as the hosting eight seed. The Boilers boast a highly productive offense (1.53 goals per game) with a porous defense (1.74 goals allowed per game). A balanced offense is led by recently resurgent Kellie Phillips who has a team-high eight goals and 18 points. All of Phillips' goals have come in Big Ten play as she is backed up by Alex Hairston, who has six goals and four assists for 16 points. In net, Clara Krider has seen all but 51 minutes of game time with a 1.63 GAA and 90 saves (.744 save percentage). Purdue has three shutouts this year, but none of them have come in Big Ten play with the 4-0 win against Indiana State (Sept. 14) being the last.
SERIES HISTORY vs. PUR: Penn State has dominated the series with Purdue with a 10-1-1 overall record and a 6-0-0 standing at Jeffrey Field. PSU has won the past seven games by a combined score of 21-4 dating back to 2004. Last season, Phillips scored the fastest goal by an opponent in PSU's history at 21 seconds before the Nittany Lions ticked off six goals in a 6-1 rout, matching the largest margin of victory (5-0, 1999).
SENIOR SEND OFF: Penn State will recognize the six departing graduates of the women's soccer program on Friday night with a senior celebration. The Nittany Lions will honor Meghan Gill, Carly Niness, Jess Rosenbluth, Ali Schaefer, Emma Thomson and Krissy Tribbett with a pre-game ceremony.
CLINCHING THE BIG TEN AT U-M: No. 14 Penn State won Big Ten title No. 14 on Sunday, Oct. 23 in a 4-0 victory at Michigan. The title signaled the most consecutive titles by a Big Ten women's program in any sport, putting PSU one ahead of the current Northwestern women's tennis squad. Sophomore Taylor Schram opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a goal from Jackie Molinda as Penn State cruised to victory. Super sophomore Maya Hayes capped an impressive weekend with two more goals on Sunday, giving her four for the weekend. The Nittany Lions also captured their 10th straight win in the process, the longest winning streak since 2005. For the third straight year, Penn State celebrated a Big Ten title against Michigan including for the second time in three years in Ann Arbor. Ali Schaefer pitched in with a goal and an assist to round out the scoring for PSU, who completed its 11th shutout of the year.
ROARING BACK IN EAST LANSING:  No. 14 Penn State used three second-half goals in 15 minutes to take a 3-1 contest at Michigan State on Friday (Oct. 21) afternoon. Sophomore sensation Maya Hayes scored twice to put Penn State ahead, while Maddy Evans made her return from injury known with an insurance goal to cement PSU's nine-game winning streak (longest since 2007). Christine Nairn, Taylor Schram, Emma Thomson and Kori Chapic recorded tallies to tie Penn State's single-season record for assists at 67.
HAYES SETTING THE MARK: This week's Big Ten Offensive, Socer America, and Philly Soccer News Player of the Week (Oct. 25), Hayes now owns the Penn State sophomore record for most goals and points in a season at 25 and 57, respectively. Hayes also moved into a tie for second in single-season game-winning goals at Penn State with her ninth this season. She matches Christie Welsh's total from 1999, while sitting four game-winners behind Tiffany Weimer's mark of 13. Hayes needs just one more goal to match Weimer's 2004 mark of 26 and two for Welsh's 1999 showing of 27 goals for third and fourth, respectively, in the single-season chart. Hayes is riding a six-game scoring streak and a seven-game point streak dating back to the Minnesota (Oct. 2) and Ohio State (Sept. 29) matches. The last three matches, and the past four of five overall, have been multi-goal games.
DOUBLE DOWN:  Penn State's offensive prowess has allowed some interesting new records to be set as well as fun stats to follow. For instance, Taylor Schram's assist at Michigan State allowed her to be the first Nittany Lion to record double-digit goals and assists since Tiffany Weimer in 2004.
NATIONAL SCORING LEADER: Maya Hayes has been on fire all season, scoring 25 times and tallying 7 assists through 19 games (Oct. 23) for 57 points. Hayes currently leads NCAA Division I women's soccer in total goals (by 5) and total points (by 12), while tying for the national lead in game-winnin goals (9, Sarah Hagen of UW-Milwaukee). Hayes's 25 goals have contributed mightily to Penn State's overall offensive success as PSU has poured in 54 goals, fifth per game in NCAA. The 54 tallies are the most since the 2005 season scored 78. More impressive is Hayes when you compare her marks against other teams in the nation. Hayes's 1.32 goals per game is better than 147 NCAA Division I postseason-eligible squads.
NATIONAL RANKINGS REVIEW: Penn State moved up in every national poll this week thanks to extending its 10-game winning streak at Michigan State and Michigan. PSU is up to 12th in the NSCAA poll. SoccerTimes.com moved Penn State up to 12th and Soccer America pegged Penn State at 11th, the eighth straight week the Lions have been in the publication's poll. TopDrawerSoccer.com ranked PSU 10th, while the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) was released for the fifth time this season with the Nittany Lions notching 11th, tops amongst all Big Ten sides and a two-spot improvement.
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 but two of the 54 goals scored by the Nittany Lions helped by an assist. In total, PSU has 69 assists, which leads the Big Ten and is a single-season school record. This year's squad averages 3.63 assists per game and are on pace for 73 during the regular season. Against West Virginia, PSU set a new school record with nine helpers, led by Taylor Schram's career-high three. Maya Hayes matched Schram's WVU effort with three of her own in the OSU victory. 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. Jess Rosenbluth leads the Big Ten with 10 assists, while Christine Nairn and Schram own nine apiece. Sixteen Nittany Lions have tallied helpers this season including goalkeeper Erin McNulty, who has a Penn State record three assists. McNulty started a Hayes goal in the team's season opener vs. WVU and another Hayes goal in the comeback over Ohio State. McNulty added a third assist on a Hayes tally against Indiana this past week.
SCORING STREAK: Sophomore Maya Hayes concluded a career-high seven-game scoring streak in September, tallying a goal from the Nevada match on Aug. 21 to Sept. 11 at Virginia. Hayes's streak is tied for third all-time in PSU history with Christie Welsh (2000) and Katie Schoepfer (2009). Hayes was six games from matching Tiffany Weimer's 2004 streak of 13. Weimer holds a share of the NCAA record at 17 set in 2005. The sophomore striker has scored in 15 of her last 18 matches and is now on a six-game scoring streak.
MONTHLY WINS: Penn State continues October at Jeffrey Fieldwith a 6-0-0 record thus far. In all, the Lions play seven matches in the 10th month of the year. The Nittany Lions are 131-22-4 all-time in October for an astounding .847 winning percentage. PSU went 3-1-0 in August to up its all-time record to 16-9-2 (.630), while posting a 7-2-0 mark to improve to 113-30-13 (.767) all-time.
NEXT TIME OUT: Penn State, the last winners of the Big Ten Tournament in 2008, looks to make it two in a row starting Wednesday, Nov. 2 in Evanston, Ill. The eighth-seeded, yet last place, Northwestern Wildcats will play host to top-seeded Penn State. Game time has yet to be determined.
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--NITTANY LIONS--