March 21, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women's soccer team announced its team awards at the annual team banquet Saturday, honoring the banner year for the Penn State women's soccer program.
Last fall, the Nittany Lions recorded a team grade point average of 3.49 to go along with their two Big Ten titles and NCAA championship.
Teddy Chase (Wayne, Pa.) received the Rodney Swineford Award, which honors the player who best epitomizes the values of Penn State women's soccer, Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.) was named the Defensive MVP, Kaleigh Riehl (Fairfax Station, Va.) garnered Freshman of the Year honors and Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) was tabbed as the Nittany Lion Offensive MVP.
During her senior year, Chase played in nine matches and received the Big Ten Sportsmanship award for Penn State during the women's soccer season.
Eckerstrom, who is currently in preseason camp with the Western New York Flash, anchored the Nittany Lion defense to one of the best defensive performances in program history. Back in January, Eckerstrom was the first goalkeeper taken in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) College Draft with the No. 26 pick by the Western New York Flash.
During the 2015 season, Eckerstrom started all 27 matches tallying a record of 22-3-2, which included 15 shutouts. Eckerstrom and the Nittany Lion defense ended the 2015 season with eight-straight shutouts. The Nittany Lions did not allow a goal over the final 733:32 of the season and during that span, Eckerstrom played all but 19:23 in net for the Blue and White. Eckerstrom set the fourth-best solo shutout performance in school history with 12 shutouts and she tied Erin McLeod for wins in a season with 22 (2005).
Riehl, who recently competed in La Manga, Spain, for the U.S. U-20 Women's National Team a few weeks ago, led the Nittany Lion field players with 2,360 minutes played during her first year in the Blue and White.
During her freshman year, Riehl scored one goal and recorded two assists. Her first goal as a Nittany Lion came in the 79th minute of the College Cup semifinal against No. 9 Rutgers. Riehl was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI First Team, Women's College Cup All-Tournament Team, All-Big Ten Second Team and the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
Rodriguez, who arguably had one of the best careers in Penn State women's soccer history, garnered numerous awards for her work in the classroom and the field. Rodriguez was selected with the No. 2 overall pick by SkyBlue FC in the 2016 NWSL College Draft.
Rodriguez' honors during her senior year included: MAC Hermann Trophy winner, Honda Sport Award winner, CONCACAF Female Player of the Year nominee, Most Outstanding Player on Offense of the Women's College Cup, Women's College Cup All-Tournament Team, NSCAA Scholar Player of the Year, NSCAA Scholar First Team All-American, NSCAA All-Great Lakes First Team, NSCAA First Team All-American, All-Big Ten First Team, Academic All-Big Ten, TopDrawerSoccer Best XI First Team, TopDrawerSoccer's Player of the Year and 2015 College Sports Information of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Two first team.
The 2016 Nittany Lions continue their spring season Saturday, March 26, at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md., against NWSL opponent Washington Spirit at 4 p.m.
When the Nittany Lions take to the field against the Spirit, there will be five Penn State alums on the opposing roster. Whitney Church '15, Ali Krieger '07, Joanna Lohman '04, Christine Nairn '12, and Tiffany Weimer '06 make up the Nittany Lion quintet currently playing for the Spirit.