UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 5 Penn State women's soccer team (2-1-0) hits the road for the first time in 2018 with a pair of matches in Virginia and North Carolina. The Nittany Lions travel to James Madison (1-3-0) on Thursday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. before they play Wake Forest (1-1-1) on Sunday, Sept. 2, at 6 p.m. to close out the road trip.
FOLLOW ALONG
The JMU match will be streamed for free, while the Wake Forest match will be shown on WatchESPN.
LOOKING AT WAKE FOREST
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have an overall record of 1-1-1 and will take on Michigan on Thursday, Aug. 30, before playing host to Penn State on Sunday, Sept. 2.
Offensively, Giovanna DeMarco and Estelle Laurier lead the team with three points apiece (1g, 1a).
In net, Nonie Frishette has played every minute over the first three games. On the year, she made 16 saves, tallied a save percentage of .762, allowed five goals and has a goals-against average of 1.50.
PSU VS. WF
Wake Forest leads the all-time series against Penn State, 3-1-0.
The two teams met last November in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with No. 10 Penn State posting a 2-0 victory over No. 24 Wake Forest.
The Nittany Lions and Demon Deacons are only meeting for the second time during the regular season.
LOOKING AT JAMES MADISON
James Madison enters the match with an overall record of 1-3-0. Most recently, the Dukes recorded a 2-1 loss to St. Joseph's on Sunday, Aug. 26.
Offensively, Haley Crawford and Ginger Deel lead the team in points (six).
In net, Hannah McShea has started all four games for the Dukes. On the year, she has made 16 saves, allowed seven goals, posted a goals-against average of 1.75, and has a save percentage of .696.
PSU VS. JMU
Penn State leads the all-time series against James Madison, 11-4-1. The two teams last met on Sept. 20, 2009, with Penn State capturing a 2-0 victory in Happy Valley.
The Nittany Lions played their first match as a varsity program on Sept. 3, 1994, with the No. 23 James Madison Dukes tallying a 4-1 victory in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
THE POLLS
Penn State is No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, No. 7 according to Soccer America and No. 9 by TopDrawerSoccer.
STRIKE FIRST
Penn State has been very successful when scoring the first goal over the past few seasons. When scoring first, Penn State is 97-3-5 since the start of the 2012 season.
PROTECTING THE NET
Since the start of the 2014 season, Penn State goalkeepers have combined for 48 shutouts.
TOP OFFENSE
The Nittany Lions boast one of the top offensives in the nation over the past few seasons.
Heading into the James Madison match, Penn State has scored 413 goals since the start of the 2011 season, which ranks third in the nation.
Virginia leads the nation in goals scored since the start of 2011 with 461 followed by Stanford with 420 goals (Stats courtesy of the Virginia Sports Information Office).
YEAR 12 DONNING THE BLUE & WHITE
Head coach Erica Dambach enters her 12th season at the helm of the Penn State women's soccer program in 2018. Along with Dambach, Ann Cook enters her 12th season on the Nittany Lion coaching staff.
Heading into year 12 at PSU, Dambach has amassed a record of 184-60-18, won nine Big Ten regular season titles, three Big Ten Tournament crowns, advanced to 11 straight NCAA Tournaments, and won the NCAA Championship in 2015.
WELCOME BACK
The Nittany Lions welcome back 16 letterwinners to the program for the 2018 season. Eight Nittany Lions return from the 2015 roster that won the program's first national championship.
WATCH OUT FOR OGLE
Not only did Emily Ogle garner preseason honors from the Big Ten and TopDrawerSoccer, she was also named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List.
Ogle was also named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List last season.
NEW FACES
Penn State women's soccer welcomed seven student-athletes to the program for the 2018 season. The incoming class features six Penn Staters from across the United States and one international.
The Penn State women's soccer class of 2022 is comprised of Kat Asman, Kelli Beiler, Kim Dubs, Caitlin Haislip, Maddie Myers, Ally Schlegel and Rachel Wasserman.
The freshman class is ranked No. 8 overall by TopDrawerSoccer, which marks the fourth top-10 class for Penn State in the past five years.
WEEKLY HONORS
After helping the Nittany Lions to a pair of shutout victories to open the season, Kaleigh Riehl was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week for the second time in her career.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Nittany Lions boast an all-time record of 234-27-13 at Jeffrey Field and in Big Ten conference matches, Penn State is 106-6-6.
Since the start of the 2011 season, Penn State owns a record of 74-7-7 at Jeffrey Field.
Penn State opened the 2018 season with 3,126 fans against then-No. 9 West Virginia, which is the No. 8 crowd in program history at Jeffrey Field.
UP NEXT
No. 5 Penn State returns home to Jeffrey Field to close out its non-conference slate. The Nittany Lions will host Syracuse (Sept. 6) and No. 6 Virginia (Sept. 9) before beginning Big Ten play on Sept. 14 against Ohio State.