UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The #13 Penn State women's soccer team opens its home slate with a top 25 matchup against #24 Indiana on Thursday evening. The Nittany Lions are coming off two straight road wins over Northwestern and Illinois. Penn State leads the all-time series with a 25-1-2 record against the Hoosiers.
In the last matchup against Indiana, Kerry Abello scored the game-winning goal in the 63rd minute to give the Nittany Lions the 1-0 win in 2019. Abello's goal gave head coach Erica Dambach the 250th win of her coaching career.
Game Information
- Date: Thursday March 4, 2021 | Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
- Location: University Park, Pa. | Venue: Holuba Hall
- Live Stats| Watch
- Series Record: PSU 25-1-2
Penn State Breakdown
Record: 2-1-0, 2-1-0
Top Scorers: Kristin Schnurr – 2 Goals, Ally Schlegel – 2 Goals, Sam Coffey – 2 Goals
Top Assists: Sam Coffey – 2 Assists, Ally Schlegel – 2 Assists
Nittany Lions Last Time Out
The Penn State women's soccer program concluded its three-game road trip by picking up a 2-0 win over the previously unbeaten Illinois Fighting Illini on Sunday afternoon.
A stingy Nittany Lions defense and strong play by goalkeeper Katherine Asman powered the Penn State (2-1-0, 2-1-0) to its first shutout of the year. Asman finished Sunday's match with four saves and the Nittany Lion defense faced 11 Illini (2-1-0, 2-1-0) shots but would not concede a goal.
Senior captains Sam Coffey (4') and Frankie Tagliaferri (53') each scored goals in the Nittany Lions win. Sunday's goal for Coffey was her second game-winner of the season
Katherine Asman picked up the first shutout of Nittany Lion career. Frankie Tagliaferri netted the 18th goal of her Penn State career.
Head coach Erica Dambach improved to 112-23-9 all-time against Big Ten opponents as Penn State's head coach.
Top of the Mountain
Senior captain Sam Coffey ranks as the NCAA Division I active leader in points and assists. Coffey currently has 96 points and 36 assists in her career. She ranks in the top five in four categories. She is fourth in points per game (1.41 PPG) and second in assists per game (.53 APG).
Coffey was named to the TopDrawerSoccer team of the week for her performance last week. Coffey scored two game-winning goals last week in wins over Northwestern (4-1) and Illinois (2-0). Her top performance came in the 4-1 win over Northwestern when she finished with four points, scoring a goal and added two assists.
Schel-GOAL
Redshirt sophomore Ally Schlegel has picked up right where she left off during the fall of 2019. Schlegel tied for the Big Ten lead with 13 goals last season and led the conference with 33 points.
Schlegel currently tied for the team lead in points (6), goals (2) and assists (2).
Schlegel is the third member of her immediate family to play Division I sports. Her father Mike and her brother Drew both played football at Kentucky. Drew played as a graduate transfer at Cal during the season last fall.
Just Win
Head coach Erica Dambach is among the elite in women's soccer coaching history. She currently ranks 17th all-time in winning percentage (.706) and 49th all-time in wins (261). Dambach has captured 10 Big Ten regular season titles, 4 Big Ten tournament titles and the 2015 national title and an Olympic gold medal.
Indiana Breakdown
Record: 2-1-0, 2-1-0
Top Scorer: Melanie Forbes – 3 Goals
Scouting Indiana
Indiana defeated Iowa 2-0 at home in their last match. The Hoosiers scored early in the match. Melanie Forbes scored twice in the match and the Hoosiers shutout the Hawkeyes for their second win of the year. Forbes was named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week, in addition to earning TopDrawerSoccer's player of the week. These accolades come off of Forbes' game-winning goals in back-to-back games for the Hoosiers.
Senior goalkeeper Bethany Kopel was named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week award on Tuesday afternoon. In three matches, she has had 11 saves and two consecutive shutouts. Kopel holds the school record with 20 career shutouts.