Oct. 30, 2015
| PENN STATE VS. ILLINOIS | |
| Sunday, Nov. 1 - 3 p.m. ET | |
| Jeffrey Field | University Park, Pa. | |
| GAME DAY LINKS |
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Gameday Central
Statistics: Penn State | IllinoisGame Notes: Penn State | Illinois
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team, the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, hosts Illinois Sunday, Nov. 1, at Jeffrey Field at 3 p.m. live on the Big Ten Network.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats will be provided via GoPSUsports.com. Fans can also watch the match on the Big Ten Network.
ON THE CALL
Lisa Byington and Kate Markgraf will be on the call for Sunday's match on the Big Ten Network.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS (10-5-3, 4-4-3)
Illinois did not play Penn State or Wisconsin in the 2015 regular season.
Offensively, Illinois is led by Jannelle Flaws, as she has tallied 11 goals and six assists for a combined 28 points.
Kara Marbury has led the Illinois offense during Big Ten play, as she has posted four goals and one assist.
In net, Claire Wheatley has played every minute (1697:49) for Illinois. On the year, she has made 83 saves, while allowing 21 goals.
Seven of the eight Illini to score this season have posted multiple goals.
Illinois opened the season with four-straight wins, before falling to Washington, 2-1.
In its third Big Ten game of the year, Illinois shocked No. 11 Rutgers with a 2-1 upset.
Illinois' win over Rutgers not only handed Rutgers its first loss of the season, but it was the first goal RU conceded in the first nine matches of the season.
As a team, Illinois ranks fourth in shots (272), fourth in goals (30) and sixth in points (84).
APPROACHING 150 WINS WITH PSU
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 148-50-10 (.735).
B1G TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The 2015 Big Ten Tournament marks the 20th Big Ten Tournament appearance for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State has hosted the Big Ten Tournament twice prior to 2015. The Nittany Lions won the postseason Big Ten title both times they hosted the tournament (`98, `06).
Overall, Penn State has a record of 26-10-4 in the Big Ten tournament and has won five postseason titles.
REPEATING HISTORY
Last season, Frannie Crouse and Mallory Weber led the team with 22 points apiece.
Heading into the postseason, Weber is tied for the team lead with Megan Schafer with 22 points each.
ONE GOAL OR LESS
In Big Ten play this season, the Nittany Lions have held their opponents to one or goal less.
Penn State also tallied three-straight matches without conceding a goal in conference play.
The Nittany Lions have only allowed two goals in match twice this season, both times Penn State won 4-2.
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, assists, points per game, assists per game and game-winning goals.
Weber's eight assists this season lead the Big Ten. She also leads the conference with .44 assists per game.
Schafer is tied for second in goals and points. She has also tallied four game-winning goals, which is tied for third in the Big Ten.
Schafer is also tied for second in goals per game and points per game.
As a team, the Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten in points, assists, assists per game, goals, goals per game.
Penn State also ranks second in the Big Ten in shots.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Nittany Lion underclassmen have accounted for 25 of the 38 goals scored this season and 22 of the 37 assists.
The Nittany Lion backline, comprised of one redshirt sophomore, one sophomore and two freshmen, have only allowed 13 goals on the season.
SOPHOMORE STANDOUT
In her sophomore season, Megan Schafer has tallied 10 goals in 18 games. She has also added two assists on the year.
Schafer has scored in six of the past eight matches. She also has tallied at least one point in seven of the past eight 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 seven Nittany Lions with multiple goals.
The Penn State attack is led by Frannie Crouse (six goals), Megan Schafer (10 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.
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.
After playing 71 minutes and tallying an assist in the regular season finale, Kaleigh Riehl was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second time in 2015.
USUAL SUSPECTS
Seven Nittany Lions have started all 18 matches this season for the Blue and White.
Out of 1660 minutes, seven Nittany Lions have played at least 1339 minutes (80 percent).
ACTIVE LEADERS
Among active student-athletes in the NCAA, Mallory Weber is tied for third in games played (90), tied for 16th in points (96), tied for 11th in assists (26) 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 13th 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), T-10th in points (96) and t-8th in assists (26).
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 18-4 in the first 45 minutes of play and they have out-shot the opposition, 143-58.
DEFENSE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
The Nittany Lion defense has posted a goals against average of .70 this season, which ranks fourth all-time at Penn State.
42 IN A ROW
With her 18 starts in the 2015 season, sophomore Emily Ogle has started all 42 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.
SMART LIONS
For the hard work and dedication in the classroom, seniors Britt Eckerstrom and Raquel Rodriguez were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Two first team.
Eckerstrom and Rodriguez are the 16th and 17th Nittany Lions to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team since 2000.
SIXTEEN GOING ON SEVENTEEN
The Nittany Lions captured a share of their 17th Big Ten title in program history in 2015.
Penn State has won 17 of the last 18 Big Ten regular season.
The 17 Big Ten titles won by the Penn State women's soccer team is the third-most most titles won by any one women's sport program in the Big Ten.
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 211-24-10 at home.
In Big Ten play at Jeffrey Field, the Nittany Lions own a record of 113-6-4. 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. 29, Penn State ranks eighth in average attendance (1,700) 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.
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.
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.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with the Nittany Lions on Facebook (PennStateWomensSoccer), Instagram (PennStateWSOC) and Twitter (PennStateWSOC).
UP NEXT
The winner of the Penn State-Illinois match will play the winner of Northwestern-Michigan on the campus of the highest remaining seed. The Big Ten semifinals will be held on Nov. 6 at 3:30 and 6 p.m.