LYON, France - Penn State women's soccer alumnae Alyssa Naeher '09 and Ali Krieger '06 have captured their second consecutive Women's World Cup championship. The United States Women's National Team defeated the Netherlands 2-0 on Sunday, July 7, to clinch a record fourth Women's World Cup Championship.
Alyssa Naeher etched her name in USWNT history alongside Briana Scurry, Hope Solo and Mary Harvey as goalkeepers to lead the USA to a World Cup Championship. Naeher started all seven matches in goal, playing all 630 minutes of the tournament. Naeher made 13 saves in the seven matches. No save was bigger than the penalty kick save in 84th minute of the semifinal match against England. It was the first penalty kick save for a USWNT goalkeeper that was not a shootout in U.S. World Cup history. Naeher and the USWNT collected four shutouts during the duration of the tournament, including the 2-0 clean sheet against the Netherlands to win the World Cup.
Ali Krieger appeared in three matches for the USWNT, including one start against Chile. Krieger logged 138 minutes played in the tournament with 45 minutes in the championship match. Krieger entered the game prior to the second half kicking off and helped the USA back line maintain another scoreless effort. Krieger now has 103 career international caps. She is just the 38th woman in USWNT history to eclipse 100 or more caps in her career.
"Penn State gave these two a wonderful foundation to go on and succeed on the world's biggest stage. Paula Wilkins and her staff brought both of these players to Happy Valley and I was fortunate enough to have three years with Alyssa when I first arrived at Penn State. They have both brought so much pride to our community and want to congratulate them on being a part of the best team in the world and perhaps, in history!" said Penn State head coach Erica Dambach of Ali Krieger and Alyssa Naeher.
For more information on Penn State women's soccer, visit gopsusports.com.
