Sept. 29, 2016
| |||||||||||||||||||||
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team (7-2-2, 3-0-1) closes out its three-game homestand against the Illinois Fighting Illini (3-8-1, 0-3-1) Friday, Sept. 30. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Jeffrey Field.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live stats and live video on GoPSUsports.com for free.
ATTENDING JEFFREY FIELD
Admission and parking for women's soccer regular season events are free. Fans are reminded that there is a no bag policy in place on stadium grounds.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday's match is Dollar Dog night and Cub Club night. Fans can purchase hot dogs for one dollar Friday night and weather-permitting, Cub Club members will be chosen in a halftime crossbar challenge.
Cub Club members can check in at the marketing table closest to Beaver Stadium. The B1G Student reward program continues Friday night. Penn State students should bring their punch card to the marketing table during halftime.
LOOKING AT ILLINOIS
Illinois heads to Happy Valley with an overall record of 3-8-1 and a record of 0-3-1 in Big Ten play. The Fighting Illini ended a three-game losing streak on Sept. 25 with a 0-0 tie at Rutgers.
Allison Stucky leads the Illini offense with five points on two goals and one assist. Summer Schafer and Patricia George have tallied four points apiece.
Goalkeepers Michelle Denley and Claire Wheatley have split time in net for the Fighting Illini in 2016. On the year, Denley has started eight games, posted three shutouts, made 22 saves and allowed 10 goals in 674:38 minutes played. Wheatley has played 448:12 minutes, allowed five goals, made 14 saves and recorded one shutout.
First-year assistant coach Nick Stirrett was a volunteer assistant coach with the Nittany Lions during the 2015 season.
WEEKEND REWIND
Last weekend, the Nittany Lions topped Iowa, 2-0, and defeated Nebraska, 2-1, at Jeffrey Field.
In goal, freshman Amanda Dennis tallied four saves against Iowa and three saves against Nebraska, including a penalty kick save in the 42nd minute with the score tied at one. Offensively, Frannie Crouse scored her 28th career goal in the 2-0 win against Iowa and then Megan Schafer posted her third career two-goal game in the 2-1 victory over Nebraska.
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
Heading into the Illinois match, the Nittany Lions have posted a record of 6-1-1 over their past eight games. Over that span, the Nittany Lion defense has allowed one goal or less in each game, which includes four shutouts.
THE 2016 PSU BIG TEN SLATE
Penn State opens the 2016 Big Ten regular season at No. 10 Minnesota (Sept. 16) and the 2015 Big Ten regular season co-champion Wisconsin Badgers (Sept. 18). Following the trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin, Penn State returns home to host Iowa (Sept. 23), Nebraska (Sept. 25) and Illinois (Sept. 30).
Penn State then travels to Indiana (Oct. 6) and Maryland (Oct. 9) before returning home to Happy Valley to host Rutgers on BTN (Oct. 13) and Purdue (Oct. 16). The Blue and White close out the 2016 Big Ten regular season at Michigan State (Oct. 22) and host Ohio State (Oct. 26) for the regular season finale. Due to a rotating schedule, Penn State does not play Northwestern or Michigan during the regular season in 2016.
FOR CLUB AND COUNTRY
The 2016 Penn State women's soccer team will be without the services of five Nittany Lions as they pursue a spot on the United States U-20 Women's National Team that will compete in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Nov. 13-Dec. 3.
Maddie Elliston, Ellie Jean, Emily Ogle and Kaleigh Riehl will not be on the roster this fall, while Rose Chandler will continue to train with the Nittany Lions during the fall semester.
B1G HONORS
Four Nittany Lions have garnered weekly honors from the Big Ten during the 2016 regular season. Laura Freigang received Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on Aug. 23, Frannie Crouse was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 13, Laura Suero garnered Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week honors on Sept. 20 and Amanda Dennis was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Sept. 27.
BIG TEN SUCCESS
Since joining the Big Ten conference in 1994, the Nittany Lions have amassed a record of 183-26-11 in Big Ten play, including a record of 99-6-4 at Jeffrey Field. Under Coach Dambach, the Nittany Lions have a tallied a Big Ten record of 83-14-4.
PACING THE PRIDE
In 2016, junior Frannie Crouse leads the team in points (15), goals (seven) and has recorded one assist. Crouse ranks second on the team in shots (28) and shots on goal (14).
STANDOUT SOPHOMORE
On the year, sophomore Charlotte Williams has tallied eight points on three goals and two assists. During her freshman season in 2015, Williams netted 13 points on three goals and seven assists.
Williams leads the team in shots (32), shots on goal (16), is tied for second in assists (two), ranks third in goals (three) and points (eight).
SHUTOUT SCORELESS STREAK SNAPPED
Penn State closed out the 2015 season with eight-straight shutouts, which spanned 733:32 of play. During the season opener against No. 6 West Virginia, the Nittany Lions kept the Mountaineers off the board until the 76:59 mark. The WVU goal at 76:59 snapped Penn State's shutout scoreless streak of 810:31, which was the second-best span in program history (1032:33, 2004).
HOME SWEET HOME
The Penn State women's soccer team has a record of 60-5-5 at Jeffrey Field since the start of the 2011 season. Over the past six seasons, Penn State has not lost twice at home in a single season.
All-time at Jeffrey Field the Penn State women's soccer team has an overall record of 220-25-11.
Penn State kicked off the 2016 campaign setting an attendance record against No. 6 WVU. A Penn State women's soccer record 5,791 fans made their way to Jeffrey Field to watch the Nittany Lions and Mountaineers play to a 1-1 draw. The previous mark of 5,117 was set in 2012 against the top-ranked Stanford Cardinal.
As of Sept. 27, the Nittany Lions rank seventh in the nation in average attendance with 1,765 fans per game.
Last season, the Nittany Lions finished sixth in overall attendance in the nation with 21,856 fans, which was a program-best. The 2015 season featured two of the top-10 home field crowds in program history.
Penn State opened the 2015 season with a crowd of 3,175 against Hofstra and 4,207 fans packed into Jeffrey Field to watch the Nittany Lions host Duke.
NITTANY LIONS WELCOME NINE
Head coach Erica Dambach welcomed nine freshmen to the Penn State women's soccer family for the class of 2020.
Amanda Dennis and Emma Hasco enrolled early to Penn State during the spring of 2016. Becca Hamilton, Madison Moroi, Bristol Pizzuto, Laura Suero and Sarafina Valenti joined the Nittany Lions back on signing day in February. Grace Fisk and Laura Freigang were the last to join the Penn State women's soccer family as they joined the program in August.
NITTANY LION CAPTAINS
Brittany Basinger, Nickolette Driesse and Megan Schafer will captain the Nittany Lions for the 2016 season.
MILESTONE VICTORIES
The 2016 season marks the 23rd year of varsity women's soccer for Penn State. The Nittany Lions captured their 400th program victory with a 3-1 win over the Hofstra Pride on Aug. 21. Overall, the Nittany Lions boast a record of 406-105-31.
Coach Dambach captured her 200th win on Sept. 9 in a 3-0 victory against San Diego State. During her time as a head coach at Dartmouth (2000-02), Harvard (2006) and Penn State (2007-Present), Coach Dambach has tallied a record of 204-80-15.
PICKED TO DEFEND THE B1G
According to the 2016 Big Ten preseason coaches' poll, the Penn State women's soccer team was selected to defend its 2015 Big Ten regular season championship.
Since the preseason poll started in 2003, the Nittany Lions have been named the preseason favorites every time.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The 2016 Penn State women's soccer roster is comprised of nine freshmen, one redshirt freshman, five sophomores, one redshirt sophomore, six juniors, three redshirt juniors and one senior.
MAC HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST
Junior forward Megan Schafer was named to the 2016 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List prior to the start of the 2016 campaign. During her 2015 season, Schafer led the Nittany Lions in goals (13) and points (30). Six of her 13 goals during 2015 captured a victory for the Blue & White. As a sophomore, she started 24 of 27 matches and netted at least one point in 11 of the final 17 matches on the year.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Heading into the weekend against Illinois, Frannie Crouse ranks 20th all-time at PSU in points with 66 (28g, 10a), while Schafer ranks 21st with 57 (23g, 11a). All-time in goals scored at PSU, Crouse ranks tied for 15th with 28 and Schafer is tied for 19th with 23.
SCORING IN 2015
The Nittany Lion underclassmen accounted for 46 of the team's 64 goals last season, which also included 17 of the 20 goals scored in the NCAA Tournament.
2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT RUN
During Penn State's run to the National Title last season, the Nittany Lions outscored the opposition, 20-0, and outshot the opposition, 108-43. Only 13 of their opponent's shots during the NCAA Tournament were on goal.
WINNING TRADITION
Senior co-captain Nickolette Driesse has been a part of the last two NCAA champion women's soccer teams. Prior to transferring to Penn State in 2015, Driesse was a member of the Florida State Seminoles. The Seminoles were NCAA runner-ups in 2013 and won the NCAA title in 2014.
THE POLLS
The Nittany Lions currently rank 13th in the Soccer America poll, 14th in the NSCAA poll and 19th in the NCAA RPI and TopDrawerSoccer polls.
YEAR 10
The 2016 season marks the 10th season for Erica Dambach at the helm of the Penn State women's soccer program. As the head coach of the Nittany Lions, Coach Dambach has an overall record of 164-52-12 and 83-14-4 in Big Ten play.
NITTANY LIONS ON BTN
The Penn State women's soccer team will be featured three times during the regular season on the Big Ten Network. The BTN regular season matches for the Nittany Lions will be West Virginia (Aug. 19 - 7:30 p.m. EDT), Minnesota (Sept. 16 - 8 p.m. EDT) and Rutgers (Oct. 13 - 7 p.m. EDT).
THE TRIPLE CROWN
The 2015 season was a banner year for the Nittany Lions as they brought home the national championship along with both Big Ten titles.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions travel to Indiana (Oct. 6) and Maryland (Oct. 9) before returning home to host Rutgers (Oct. 13) and Purdue (Oct. 16).