UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 14 Penn State women's soccer team (18-5-1) travels to Tallahassee, Florida, to take on the No. 5-ranked, and No. 1-seeded, Florida State Seminoles (17-4-3) in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament. The match is set for 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 23, at the Seminole Soccer Complex.
FOLLOW ALONG
The match will be streamed for free on ESPN3.com with Trevor DeGroot (play-by-play) and Kathyrn Phillips (analyst) on the call. Live stats can also be found on Seminoles.com.
TICKET INFORMATION
Ticket prices for Friday's match are $8 for adults, $5 for seniors (50+) and $3 for youth (3-12). Fans that plan on attending the match should take note of Florida State's clear bag policy.
LOOKING AT FLORIDA STATE
The No. 5-ranked, and No. 1-seeded, Florida State Seminoles enter the match against No. 14 Penn State following a thrilling penalty kick shootout against the No. 6-ranked, and fourth-seeded, USC Trojans.After playing to a 1-1 draw, Florida State outlasted USC in penalty kicks, 5-4.
On the year, Florida State owns an overall record of 17-4-3 and went 5-4-1 in ACC play.
Offensively, the Seminoles are led by Deyna Castellanos who has 24 points on nine goals and six assists. Along with Castellanos, five other Seminoles have tallied at least 10 points.
In net, Brooke Bollinger has played in 20 contests and owns a record of 13-4-2.On the year, she has allowed just nine goals, has made 38 saves, has a save percentage of .809, has a goals-against average of 0.45, and has posted 10 solo shutouts.
PENN STATE VS. FLORIDA STATE
Penn State and Florida State will be meeting for the fifth time with the all-time series tied at 2-2-0. The two squads last met in the 2012 College Cup semifinals with Penn State winning 2-1 in overtime.
Head coach Erica Dambach was an assistant coach for Florida State head coach Mark Krikorian when the Seminoles went to the College Cup in 2005.
BREAKOUT SEASONS
Heading into the 2018 season, the trio of Kerry Abello, Shea Moyer, and Kristin Schnurr had a combined one point. In 2018, the trio have tallied 50 points.
Prior to the Florida State match, Abello and Schnurr have 19 points apiece, while Moyer has 12 points.
STRIKE FIRST
Penn State has been very successful when scoring the first goal over the past few seasons. When scoring first, Penn State is 111-3-5 since the start of the 2012 season.
DEFENSE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
The Nittany Lion defense in 2018 has recorded 14 shutouts, which is tied for fourth all-time in school history (2011). Penn State's goals-against average of 0.49 currently ranks third all-time in school history.
SECOND HALF TEAM
Halftime adjustments have paid dividends for the Nittany Lions in 2018.Offensively, Penn State has scored 26 goals in the second half of regulation compared to 16 goals in the first half.
Defensively, Penn State has allowed 11 goals during the first half of play, while it has allowed only one goal in the second half of regulation.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The 2018 NCAA Tournament marks the 24th consecutive appearance for the Nittany Lions. Overall, Penn State owns an all-time record of 53-21-2 in the NCAA Tournament.
Including 2018, Penn State has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in four of the last five seasons (2014, '15, '17 & '18).
NCAA TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
Heading into the NCAA quarterfinals, Penn State's 53 tournament victories rank sixth all-time.
TOP OFFENSE
The Nittany Lions boast one of the top offenses in the nation over the past few seasons.
Heading into the Florida State match, Penn State has scored 449 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 504 followed by Stanford with 469 (Stats courtesy of the Virginia Sports Information Office).
CLOSE CONTESTS
Penn State has played 15 one-goal games in 2018. The Nittany Lions have gone 10-5 in those matches, which includes a pair of 2-1 overtime wins.
PROTECTING THE NET
Since the start of the 2014 season, Penn State goalkeepers have combined for 60 shutouts.
ONE GOAL OR LESS
The Nittany Lion defense hasn't allowed two goals in a match since Sept. 9 (2-1 - Virginia) and has only allowed two goals in a match twice this season (Aug. 25 - 2-1 - UCLA).
UP NEXT
The winner of Penn State/Florida State will meet the winner of Stanford/Tennessee in the semifinals of the College Cup on Friday, Nov. 30. The match will take place at 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.