Oct. 19, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 17 Penn State women's soccer team will close out its regular season home slate on Sunday, hosting Illinois on Senior Day. The noon match-up will air live on the Big Ten Network.
The Nittany Lions will honor the seven members of an extraordinary senior class as well as two senior members of their loyal Park Avenue Army fan section prior to the start of the game. Fans in attendance will receive a free pair of Penn State women's soccer sunglasses, while supplies last. Admission and parking are free for all home matches and fans are reminded that there is a no bag policy in place on stadium grounds.
The Blue and White enter the match at 11-3-1 overall and 5-2-0 in Big Ten action after defeating Ohio State by a count of 4-2 on Thursday afternoon. PSU is currently third in the B1G standings behind Nebraska (11-3-1, 6-1-0) and Michigan (11-2-1, 5-1-1).
Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) leads the offensive attack for the Lions. The senior ranks second in the conference and is tied for third in the nation in goals with 15. She is also second in the B1G and tied for second in the country in points with a total of 35. Raquel Rodriguez leads the squad and is tied for fourth in the league in assists with seven this season.
Illinois heads into Sunday's game at 8-5-2 overall and 3-3-1 in conference play after most recently taking down Northwestern, 3-1, on Thursday evening. Senior Janelle Flaws notched a hat trick in Thursday's match to lead the Illini past the Wildcats.
Illinois is led by Flaws and Vanessa DiBarnardo. Flaws leads the nation in goals and points with 18 and 37, respectively, while DiBernardo has notched four goals and a team-high six assists.
Penn State owns a record of 21-4-0 against the Illini all-time. The Nittany Lions split with U of I last season, defeating the Illini by a count of 4-0 in the regular season before falling to them, 1-0, in the Big Ten Tournament. PSU has never dropped a match to Illinois in regular season play.
The Blue and White return to action next weekend as they travel west to face Iowa and Big Ten frontrunner, Nebraska. The Lions will meet the Hawkeyes on Friday at 8:00 p.m. (EST) before taking on the Corn Huskers on Sunday in a 2:00 p.m. match-up.