Oct. 19, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State women's soccer standout Raquel Rodriguez is returning to Happy Valley this weekend to be honored during the Penn State-Ohio State primetime clash Saturday night.
Rodriguez will be recognized for being selected as one of three finalists for the prestigious Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award for 2015-16. The top-three finalists were selected by a voting of nearly 1,000 NCAA member schools and the Honda Cup winner was chosen by the Board of Directors of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) program.
The Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year reflects not only athletic achievement but also the ideals of team contribution, scholastic endeavor, school and community involvement and those personal characteristics as stated in the philosophy of the NCAA.
The 2015 MAC Hermann Trophy winner as the top collegiate soccer player, Rodriguez led the Penn State women's soccer program to its first NCAA Championship last fall.
Rodriguez earned numerous awards in 2015-16, including: MAC Hermann Trophy winner, Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year Finalist, 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, Penn State Athletics Female Athlete of the Year and CoSIDA Academic All-District first team.
Rodriguez ended her Nittany Lion career, 16th in points (74), 18th in goals (23), T-15th in game-winning goals (nine), T-8th in assists (28), 12th in shots attempted (187), 10th in shots on goal (77) and T-17th in games started (90).