KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Penn State women's soccer duo of Emily Ogle and Kaleigh Riehl have been named All-Americans, as announced by the United Soccer Coaches on Thursday evening. Ogle garners Second Team All-America honors and Riehl receives First Team All-America plaudits.
In program history, 14 Nittany Lions have combined for 25 First Team All-America honors, and five Penn Staters have recorded six Second Team All-America honors. In all, 17 Nittany Lions have accounted for 35 All-America plaudits. Ogle and Riehl both garner All-America honors for the first time.
"Emily Ogle is the smartest midfielder that I have seen," head coach Erica Dambach said. "You look at all the different areas of her game and it is her field awareness that makes her so special and so hard for opponents to deal with. She is 100 percent deserving of this recognition and has been for a number of years. I'm really excited for her."
Ogle, a redshirt senior midfielder, started all 25 matches in 2018 and finished the year with 17 points on six goals and five assists. This past weekend, Ogle became the eighth Nittany Lion to play in 100 career games. In her four seasons playing for Penn State, she received three All-Region First Team honors (2015, '17 and '18) and one All-Region Third Team plaudit ('14).
Along with her All-Region and All-America nods in 2018, Ogle was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Two First Team and the All-Big Ten First Team, and was tabbed the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year.
"Kaleigh Riehl is hands down the best defender in the country. Period," Dambach said. "I'm so glad to see her get the recognition that she deserves, it's her consistency that makes her so great. Certainly, there are some flashy moments here and there, but what you want out of a defender is that you know 100 percent you can rely on them against any opponent in any moment. Kale flat out gets the job done, and I'm really happy for her, she puts as much time and effort in as anyone."
In 2018, Riehl, a redshirt junior defender, helped anchor a Nittany Lion backline that allowed just 13 goals and posted 14 shutouts in 25 matches. Individually, she was on the field for 95 percent of the season for the Blue & White.
Riehl's accolades in 2018 include: First Team All-American, MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, All-North Region First Team, All-Big Ten First Team, Big Ten Defender of the Year, and two-time TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week member.