Oct. 27, 2015
| PENN STATE VS. MICHIGAN | |
| Wednesday, Oct. 28 - 5 p.m. ET | |
| Jeffrey Field | University Park, Pa. | |
| GAME DAY LINKS |
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Game Notes: Penn State | MichiganStatistics: Penn State | Michigan
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team hosts the Michigan Wolverines Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Jeffrey Field in the regular season finale. Due to inclement weather, the match was moved up two hours from the previous scheduled time of 7 p.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats/video will be provided via GoPSUsports.com.
TIME CHANGE
Originally scheduled for 7 p.m., Wednesday's match will now be played at 5 p.m.
PARKING REMINDER
Due to the rain, fans are asked to park in the Stadium West lot and not in the grass lot next to Jeffrey Field.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN (11-5-2, 6-2-2)
The Wolverines enter the match following a 1-0 overtime win over Purdue on Oct. 24 at home.
Heading into the final game of the regular season, Michigan is tied for third place in the Big Ten with 20 points.
Michigan has out-scored its opponents, 16-4, in the first 45 minutes of play this season.
Megan Hinz has a tallied a record of 9-5-2 in net for the Maize and Blue.
In goal, Hinz has played 1395:53 minutes, made 42 saves and conceded 15 goals.
The Wolverines are led offensively led by Ani Sarkisian and Taylor Timko. The duo have tallied seven goals and three assists apiece.
Christina Murillo leads the Big Ten in assists with seven.
As a team, Michigan leads the Big Ten with 321 shots - Penn State ranks second in the conference with 284 shots.
Michigan ranks second in the Big Ten in goals (34), assists (31) and points (99).
The Wolverines are 1-1-2 against ranked teams this season.
200 CAPS
Against Nebraska, Erica Walsh made her 200th appearance as the head coach of the Nittany Lion women's soccer team.
In her time as the Nittany Lion head coach, Walsh has tallied an overall record of 147-50-10 (.734).
AMONG THE BEST OF THE B1G
Megan Schafer and Mallory Weber have established themselves as two of the top forwards in the Big Ten this season.
Among the Big Ten leaders, Weber ranks in the top-five in points, goals, assists, points per game, assists per game and game-winning goals.
Schafer is tied for third in goals and tied for third in points. Schafer also ranks fourth in goals per game and tied for fourth in points per game.
As a team, the Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten in points, assists, goals, goals per game and assists per game.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Nittany Lion underclassmen have accounted for 24 of the 35 goals scored this season and 21 of the 33 assists.
The Nittany Lion backline, comprised of one redshirt sophomore, one sophomore and two freshmen, have only allowed 12 goals on the season.
SOPHOMORE STANDOUT
In her sophomore season, Megan Schafer has tallied nine goals in 17 games. She has also added two assists on the year.
Schafer has tallied one goal in five of the past seven matches.
Last season, Schafer scored six goals and tallied five assists in 24 games.
BALANCED ATTACK
Eleven Nittany Lions have tallied goals in the 2015 campaign, which includes six Nittany Lions with multiple goals.
The Penn State attack is led by Frannie Crouse (six goals), Megan Schafer (nine goals) and Mallory Weber (seven goals).
NATIONAL HONORS
Brittany Basinger and Frannie Crouse were honored nationally for their performances against No. 2 Stanford and Santa Clara.
Basinger was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week, while Crouse was named the espnW Player of the Week.
Along with the espnW Player of the Week honors, Crouse received honors from the Big Ten.
Crouse was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, Britt Eckerstrom was tabbed as the Co-Defensive Player of the Week and Kaleigh Riehl received Freshman of the Week honors.
Following the Northwestern victory, Elizabeth Ball was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week for her defensive efforts.
Ball was also named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week following a pair of shutout victories over Maryland (1-0) and Indiana (4-0).
Marissa Sheva was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for netting the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Ohio State on Oct. 24.
USUAL SUSPECTS
Seven Nittany Lions have started all 17 matches this season for the Blue and White.
Out of 1570 minutes, seven Nittany Lions have played at least 1275 minutes (81 percent).
ACTIVE LEADERS
Among active student-athletes in the NCAA, Mallory Weber is tied for third in games played (89), tied for 16th in points (94), tied for 14th in assists (24) and she is also one of 11 student-athletes to have tallied 30 goals and 20 assists.
Also in the active leaderboards, Raquel Rodriguez is tied for 12th with 25 assists.
CAPTAIN CLUTCH
After posting a five-point weekend against Hofstra and LMU during the first weekend of the season, senior Mallory Weber followed up her performance with a three-point weekend against Duke and Arkansas.
Weber, held pointless against the No. 21 Duke Blue Devils, notched a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win over Arkansas.
Weber has tallied three game-winning goals this season.
All-time at Penn State, Weber ranks 10th in goals (35), 11th in points (94) and t-13th in assists (24).
Weber recorded at least one point a game over a six-game span from Sept. 25-Oct. 15.
EXTRA TIME
In the hard fought double overtime match against the No. 21 Duke Blue Devils on Aug. 28, seven Nittany Lions played the full 110 minutes.
POUNCING FIRST
In the 2015 season, the Nittany Lions have out-scored their opponents 15-4 in the first 45 minutes of play and they have out-shot the opposition, 136-52.
41 IN A ROW
With her 17 starts in the 2015 season, sophomore Emily Ogle has started all 41 matches of her Nittany Lion career.
THE POLLS
The Penn State women's soccer team currently ranks third in the NCAA RPI, sixth in the TopDrawerSoccer Poll, 10th in the NSCAA Coaches' Poll and 12th in the Soccer America Top-25 Poll.
BACK-TO-BACK NO. 2 CLASSES
According to TopDrawerSoccer, the Nittany Lions have signed the number two recruiting class in the last two years. The 2014 class featured the 2014 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Emily Ogle and Frannie Crouse, who led the Nittany Lions with 10 goals. The 2015 class features nine newcomers, including eight freshmen and one transfer.
SWEET 16
Penn State's regular season Big Ten title last year was the 16th in program history. The Nittany Lions have won 16 out of the last 17 titles. Since 1992-93, the 16 Big Ten titles won by women's soccer is tied for third for the most titles won by any one women's sport program in the Big Ten (Penn State women's volleyball).
PRESEASON FAVORITES
According to the 2015 Big Ten Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Penn State women's soccer team was selected to finish first. The Nittany Lions have sat atop the Big Ten preseason poll every season since the poll began in 2003.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Three players from each Big Ten team were named Big Ten Women's Soccer Preseason Players to Watch, with seniors Britt Eckerstrom, Raquel Rodriguez and Mallory Weber representing the Nittany Lion Blue and White. This is Rodriguez's third-straight appearance on the Preseason Players to Watch list.
HOME SWEET HOME
Jeffery Field has been a tough place for opponents to play as the Nittany Lions boast an all-time record of 210-24-10 at home.
In Big Ten play at Jeffrey Field, the Nittany Lions own a record of 112-6-4. The Nittany Lions have tallied seven undefeated seasons at Jeffrey Field.
#PACKTHEJEFF
In their season-opening homestand, the Nittany Lions drew two top-10 crowds in program history.
In the season-opener, 3,175 fans made their way to Jeffrey Field to cheer on the Nittany Lions. At the time, that was fourth-largest crowd to attend a women's soccer match at Jeffrey Field.
A week later, against No. 21 Duke, 4,207 fans packed Jeffrey Field for the second-largest crowd in program history.
As of Oct. 26, Penn State ranks seventh in average attendance (1,869) in the NCAA.
MIDSEASON HONORS
Eight Nittany Lions were named to TopDrawerSoccer's Top-100 midseason lists, with three named among the top-100 freshmen and five named to the Top-100 upperclassmen list. The Top-100 upperclassmen list is comprised of the top sophomores, juniors and seniors in NCAA women's soccer.
Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) leads the Nittany Lion contingent among the TopDrawerSoccer Top-100 midseason upperclassmen list. Rodriguez checks in at sixth, followed by Emily Ogle (Strongsville, Ohio) (26th), Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) (34th), Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.) (60th) and Elizabeth Ball (Richmond, Va.) (76th).
Among TopDrawerSoccer's Midseason Top-100 Freshmen list, Kaleigh Riehl (Fairfax Station, Va.) ranks sixth, Ellie Jean (Coventry, Conn.) checks in at 16th and Alina Ortega-Jurado (Wetzlar, Germany) is 83rd.
WATCH OUT FOR ROCKY
Senior midfielder Raquel Rodriguez was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, as announced by the NSCAA in early August.
The 28 candidates named to the watch list in August will be narrowed down throughout the season with the winner being announced on Jan. 8, 2016.
PSWS IN THE #2015WWC
The Penn State women's soccer program was represented by five Nittany Lions representing three countries in the 2015 Women's World Cup.
Former Penn State women's soccer players, Ali Krieger '06 and Alyssa Naeher '09 became the first Nittany Lions to win a World Cup as part of a senior national team as they helped the U.S. to a 5-2 victory over Japan in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup final.
Carmelina Moscato '05 and Erin McLeod '05 helped Canada to reach the quarterfinal round before being eliminated by England. The pair helped the host country to advance out of Group A and defeat Switzerland in the Round of 16.
Raquel Rodriguez won't forget about the summer of 2015 for quite some time.
During the summer of 2015, Rodriguez represented her home country of Costa Rica in the Women's World Cup.
In Costa Rica's debut at the Women's World Cup, Costa Rican and Penn State women's soccer history was made just 74 seconds after Spain scored its first World Cup goal. In the 14th minute, Rodriguez received a cross in the box from Lixy Rodriguez, and she lobbed in a left footed shot at the right post for the 1-1 equalizer. Rodriguez's goal was her 24th as a member of Costa Rican's Women's National Team, a team-best.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN!
Seniors Britt Eckerstrom, Raquel Rodriguez and Mallory Weber have been named team captains for the 2015 season.
A three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Eckerstrom, a red-shirt senior, sits second among Penn State goalkeepers with 57 games played and her 39 career wins is tied for third.
Rodriguez, the 2014 Big Ten Midfielder of the Year, a NSCAA Scholar All-America pick, NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region first team member and Academic All-Big Ten honoree, posted 17 points in 18 games played.
Weber, also an Academic All-Big Ten selection, tied for the team lead with 22 points last season, scoring eight goals and dishing out six assists.
HOMETOWN TIES
Senior Megan Ritchey and freshman Taylor Campbell-Phipps didn't have to travel a long distance as they made the transition from high school to college.
Both Ritchey and Campbell-Phipps call State College, Pa., home as they both attended State College Area high school.
WATCH THE LIONS ON BTN
The Penn State women's soccer team will make one appearance on BTN (Sept. 17 vs. Wisconsin), but will be featured six times on BTN Plus on BTN2GO.
The Nittany Lions are featured on BTN Plus on BTN2Go in three-straight matches when they take on Minnesota, Sept. 20 at Jeffrey Field before traveling to Nebraska, Sept. 25, and Iowa, Sept. 27.
Penn State returns to BTN Plus on BTN2Go for four-straight matches against Purdue, Oct. 15, Rutgers, Oct. 18, and Ohio State, Oct. 24.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with the Nittany Lions on Facebook (PennStateWomensSoccer), Instagram (PennStateWSOC) and Twitter (PennStateWSOC).
UP NEXT
Seeding for the Big Ten women's soccer tournament will be announced following Wednesday's matches. The Big Ten quarterfinals will take place Sunday, Nov. 1, at campus sites.