Aug. 3, 2015
NSCAA Rankings
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Penn State women's soccer team opens the 2015 season ranked No. 6, according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) NCAA Women's Division I Preseason Rankings.
Last season, the Nittany Lions won their 16th Big Ten conference title and appeared in their 20th-straight NCAA Tournament. Penn State closed out the season with a 2-1 loss to Texas A&M in the Elite Eight and finished out the year with a record of 20-4-0.
Four regular season opponents for the Nittany Lions appeared in the NSCAA top-25 preseason rankings, including No. 3 Stanford, No. 12 West Virginia, No. 14 Wisconsin and No. 24 Rutgers.
Early September features a three-game road trip for Penn State, which includes a trip to No. 12 West Virginia (Sept. 4) and No. 3 Stanford (Sept. 11). Following the three-game road trip, the Nittany Lions return home to open conference play against No. 14 Wisconsin live on Big Ten Network, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.
Penn State also heads to Piscataway, N.J., to take on No. 24 Rutgers at 1 p.m., on Oct. 18.
The Nittany Lions return the 2014 Big Ten Midfielder of the Year in Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) and the 2014 Big Ten Freshman of the Year in Emily Ogle (Strongsville, Ohio). Rodriguez joins the Nittany Lion offense that returns the top-five goal scorers from 2014.
The women's soccer team opens the 2015 season with the 12th-annual Penn State Invitational. Penn State hosts Hofstra in the season-opener at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 21. The match against Hofstra will feature free admission and parking.