UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's soccer program has announced its team awards for the 2021 season.
Four Nittany Lions were voted by their peers for the spring team awards. The spring award winners for Penn State were as follows:
Offensive MVP: Ally Schlegel
Defensive MVP: Eva Alonso
Freshman of the Year: Ellie Wheeler
Rodney Swineford Award: Sam Coffey
Schlegel was named Offensive MVP for the second season in a row. Schlegel, was named 2020-21 United Soccer Coaches All-America first-team member. She was named the Big Ten Forward of the Year after earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors a year ago. The two-time All-Big Ten first-team member led the conference in goals for the second-straight season with 11 goals while adding six assists and 28 points.
Alonso was named the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year and anchored the back line for Penn State. Alonso started all 16 games and played nearly every minute for the Nittany Lions at center back. With Alonso as the staple of the defense in front of Katherine Asman, Penn State held opponents to just 14 goals and sported a 0.86 goal against average with seven shutouts on the season.
Ellie Wheeler started all 16 games in her first season in Happy Valley on the back line with Alonso and was named Freshman of the Year. Wheeler collected her first points as a Nittany Lion with an assist against Minnesota.
Coffey was named by her teams as the recipient of this year's Rodney Swineford Award. The Rodney Swineford Award is given to the player who most embodied the values and pillars of Penn State women's soccer on and off the field.
Coffey was named a Senior CLASS first team All-American in 2021. This is the third All-America honor that Coffey has received in her collegiate career. Coffey earned first team All-America honors from United Soccer Coaches in 2018 and was a United Soccer Coaches second team Scholar All-America in 2019 in her first season in Happy Valley.
Coffey is a three-time All-Region honoree. The Big Ten Midfielder of the Year is the NCAA active career leader in points (114) and assists (46) and is the only player in college soccer with 30+ goals (34) and 40+ assists (46). Coffey led the Big Ten in assists with 12 and was third in the NCAA. Coffey tallied six goals and finished the season with 24 points.
For more on Penn State women's soccer, visit gopsusports.com.