Feb. 27, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Four members of the Penn State women's soccer program are headed to La Manga, Spain, for the 2017 La Manga Tournament. The Nittany Lion quartet of Grace Fisk (Bromley, London, England), Laura Freigang (Oppenheim, Germany), Emily Ogle (Strongsville, Ohio) and Frankie Tagliaferri (Colts Neck, N.J.) will take part in three matches for their respective national teams, March 2-7.
Fisk, a rising sophomore defender, heads to La Manga as a member of the England U-19 Women's National Team. Last month, Fisk traveled to St. George's Park in the United Kingdom for a week-long camp with the England U-19 WNT.
At the La Manga Tournament, the England U-19 WNT plays France (March 3), the Netherlands (March 5) and Italy (March 7).
During her freshman year with the Blue & White, Fisk started 18 matches on the Nittany Lion backline, which recorded nine shutouts. Offensively, she tallied her first goal as a Nittany Lion in a 2-0 win against La Salle on Sept. 11.
Freigang, a rising sophomore midfielder/forward, joins the German U-19 Women's National Team for the La Manga Tournament. At La Manga, Germany is scheduled to play the Netherlands (March 3), the United States U-20 WNT (March 5) and Scotland (March 7).
During her freshman year with the Nittany Lions, 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.
Her plaudits with Penn State include: Big Ten Freshman of the Week (Aug. 23) and Big Ten All-Freshman Team (Oct. 28).
Freigang missed the 2016 NCAA Tournament as she started all four matches in the midfield for the German U-20 Women's National Team that advanced to the quarterfinal round at the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Papua New Guinea.
Ogle, a redshirt junior midfielder, travels to the La Manga Tournament as a member of the U.S. U-23 Women's National Team. The 2017 La Manga Tournament marks the first call-up to the U-23 WNT for Ogle. Of the 22-member U.S. U-23 roster, 17 play professionally, four, including Ogle, are collegiate players and one member is a high schooler.
The U.S. U-23 WNT is slated to play Japan (March 2), England (March 4) and Norway (March 6).
Ogle started all 27 matches for the Nittany Lions during her sophomore season in 2015 and recorded seven goals, four of which were scored in the NCAA Tournament. During the 2015 season, Ogle received TopDrawerSoccer Third Team Best XI honors, NSCAA All-Great Lakes First Team honors, All-Big Ten Second Team honors, Academic All-Big Ten plaudits and was named to the Women's College Cup All-Tournament Team.
Last fall, Ogle used a redshirt season as she was a member of the United States U-20 Women's National Team at the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. At the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Ogle started all six matches in the U.S. midfield.
Tagliaferri, an incoming freshman midfielder/forward, will join the U.S. U-20 Women's National Team at La Manga. The U.S. U-20 WNT takes on the Norway U-19 WNT (March 3), the German U-19 WNT (March 5), and the France U-19 WNT (March 7).
A member of the U.S. WNT at the U-14, U-15, U-17 and U-19 levels, Tagliaferri played at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup this past fall. During her career with the U.S. U-17 WNT, she recorded 24 caps and scored 11 international goals.