Nov. 2, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State women's soccer freshman Laura Freigang (Oppenheim, Germany) will join the German U-20 Women's National Team for the upcoming 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Nov. 13-Dec. 3, in Papua New Guinea.
"I am very excited to play in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, it will be the biggest tournament in my life so far," Freigang said. "I couldn't be any more excited for the upcoming tournament, but at the same time I am sad that I will be missing the NCAA Tournament. A part of me wants to stay and play for Penn State, but I am so excited for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. Even though I'll be in Papua New Guinea, I'll be following my Nittany Lion family during the NCAA Tournament."
"Our Nittany Lion family wants to wish Laura the best of luck as she heads off to the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Papua New Guinea," Penn State women's soccer head coach Erica Dambach said. "She has been a wonderful addition to our program this year and we can't wait to see her perform on the world stage."
During her freshman year with the Blue and White, Freigang played in 15 matches, which included two starts, scored two goals and posted 31 shot attempts. In the season opener (Aug. 19), Freigang scored her first career goal against West Virginia and on Oct. 26, she scored her second career goal in a 2-0 victory over Ohio State to help the Nittany Lions capture a share of their 18th Big Ten regular season title.
Freigang's plaudits with Penn State include: Big Ten Freshman of the Week (Aug. 23) and Big Ten All-Freshman Team (Oct. 28).
She has been a part of the German Women's National Team at the U-20, U-19, U-17, U-16 and U-15 levels. With the German Women's National Team, Freigang has competed in the U-16 Nordic Cup Tournament, the U-17 World Cup and the U-19 European Championships.
Germany opens Group D play against Venezuela in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on Nov. 14. Following the Venezuela match, Germany takes on Mexico on Nov. 17 and then closes out group play against Korea Republic on Nov. 21.
Freigang is one of six Nittany Lions slated to compete in the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, as Rose Chandler (Atlanta, Ga.), Maddie Elliston (Omaha, Neb.), Ellie Jean (Coventry, Conn.), Emily Ogle (Strongsville, Ohio) and Kaleigh Riehl (Fairfax Station, Va.) were named to the United States U-20 Women's National Team.