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Mark Selders

Nittany Lions Battle Purdue in B1G Semifinals

Opens in a new window 2019 WSOC Notes Purdue

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Penn State women's soccer program heads to New Jersey for the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament against the Purdue Boilermakers. The Nittany Lions are pursing their eighth Big Ten Tournament championship.

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NITTANY LION NOTABLES

  • The Nittany Lions enter the match with a 13-6-1 record and have won seven straight heading into Friday's 11 a.m. ET game.
  • Ally Schlegel's Big Ten Freshman of the Year award highlighted Penn State's eight Big Ten all-conference honors.
  • Schlegel, Kerry Abello, Kaleigh Riehl and Sam Coffey all earned first team All-Big Ten honors. Kaleigh Riehl earned her fourth Big Ten honor of her career. The four first team honorees are the most for Penn State since 2011.
  • Along with the first-team honorees, Frankie Tagliaferri (second team), Ellie Jean (third team), Payton Linnehan (freshman team) and Cori Dyke (freshman team) were also honored by the Big Ten.
  • The Nittany Lions have an 18-1-2 record all-time against Purdue in program history. Penn State beat the Boilermakers 2-1 earlier this season on October 13.
  • The Nittany Lions have advanced to the last two Big Ten Tournament championship games and three of the last four. Penn State brought home Big Ten titles in 2015 and 2017 in the last five seasons.
  • Senior Kaleigh Riehl has been one of the most consistent players in Penn State history. She leads NCAA Division I in career appearances and starts with 96. Her 96 starts are tied for seventh all-time in program history.

BOILERMAKER NOTES

  • Purdue enters the match with a 8-8-3 record.
  • In the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, the Boilermakers upset top-ranked Wisconsin 1-0 in Madison.
  • Drew Roff enters his fifth season as the head coach of Purdue and led the Boilermakers to two Big Ten Tournaments in the last three seasons.
  • Purdue won its lone Big Ten championship in 2007.
  • Boilermaker goalkeeper Marisa Bova recorded nine shutouts during the 2019 season.
  • Hannah Melchiorre leads the Boilermakers with four goals this season.

BIG TEN HISTORY
The Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten with seven conference titles. The titles for the Nittany Lions came in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2008, 2015 and 2017.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
Penn State has participated in the last 24 NCAA tournaments in 25 years as a varsity program.