UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 17 Penn State women's soccer program is set to host Illinois on Sunday, Sept. 25 for senior day and alumni day at Jeffrey Field.
Prior to kickoff, the program will recognize and celebrate the playing careers of seven Nittany Lions, Jordan Canniff, Cassie Hiatt, Penelope Hocking, Jillian Jennings, Morgan Messner, Maddie Myers and Rachel Wasserman.
At halftime, all Penn State women's soccer alumni in attendance will be recognized.
Senior Day and Alumni Day is presented by the Penn State Alumni Association.
GAME INFORMATION
Illinois (6-3-1, 1-1)
- Date: Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022 | Time: Noon ET
- Location: University Park, Pa. | Venue: Jeffrey Field
- Live Stats | Watch: B1G+
- Admission: Free
Parking Information
Parking for all Penn State Athletics' non-football events will require a valid permit or payment of the applicable parking fee for campus lots. Fans with valid Penn State University Park parking permits will be permitted to park at non-football athletics events for free, following Transportation Services parking policies and access.
For women's soccer matches, fans are asked to park in the Jordan East, Stadium West or Porter North lots. Fans without a permit are encouraged to prepay for event parking at a discounted rate of $5.50 through ParkMobile - https://psu.parkmobile.io/. Prepayment is available through 11:59 p.m. the day prior to each event. Event day parking will be $10 per vehicle and is cash only/can be purchased on the ParkMobile app. The East Deck is also available for most events for $1 per hour.
Parking for all non-football athletics events is managed by Penn State Transportation Services. For more information or questions, visit transportation.psu.edu or email parking@psu.edu.
PENN STATE BREAKDOWN
Record: 6-1-2, 1-0-1
Top Goal Scorers: Ally Schlegel (4 Goals), Mieke Schiemann (3 Goals)
Top Assists: Kate Wiesner (5 Assists)
Top Saves: Katherine Asman (30 Saves, .833 save percentage)
LAST TIME OUT
- No. 17 Penn State upended No. 4 Rutgers, 2-0, spoiling the Scarlet Knights' perfect 9-0-0 record on Thursday at Jeffrey Field.
- Rutgers, alongside No. 1 UCLA (8-0-0), was one of two women's soccer programs in NCAA Division I with a perfect record midway through the regular season.
- The Nittany Lions struck early in the ninth minute as Penelope Hocking split a trio of Scarlet Knights to send in a cross. Wiesner took a hard shot that bounced off the keeper's hands, and Schlegel finished into the net for her fourth goal of the season.
- PSU prevented RU from taking a shot until the 19th minute. The Scarlet Knights first good look did not happen until the 25th minute and ended in a save by Asman.
- Eight minutes into the second half, PSU struck again. Schlegel sent a through ball to Hocking who out-raced three defenders to put the ball in the goal with her left foot.
- RU's final shot came in the 56th minute with a long-range boot on a free kick that went right into the gloves of Asman.
- Asman would finish the match with six saves en route to her fifth clean sheet of the season.
- With a goal and an assist vs. RU, Schlegel moves to 94 career points.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS
- On Thursday, the Fighting Illini won 3-2 at Maryland, scoring all three goals in the second half.
- It was Illinois' first Big Ten win after falling 0-3 to Michigan State in the conference opener.
- UMD out-shot Illinois 14 to 7 but the Terps only had six shots on goal.
- Junior keeper Julia Cili had five saves in the win. She leads the league with 5.10 saves per game and with 49 total saves this season.
- Redshirt Senior Kendra Pasquale leads the team with three goals.
- Sophomore Maeve Jones leads her squad with two assists. Seven other Fighting Illini have one assist each.
PENN STATE AGAINST ILLINOIS
- Penn State leads the all-time series against Illinois 30-4-0.
- PSU is on an eight-match streak against the Fighting Illini.
- The last time PSU played Illinois, the Nittany Lions won 2-0 on the road on Feb. 28, 2021. The two programs did not face off in Fall 2021.
- Illinois last defeated PSU 1-0 in 2012 in the Big Ten Tournament Semi-Final.
OTHER NOTES
- The Nittany Lions were selected as the favorite to win the 2022 Big Ten Conference championship alongside Rutgers, according to the annual preseason poll of conference head coaches.
- For the first time in the Big Ten Preseason Poll history, there was a tie for first place with Penn State and Rutgers leading the list.
- The Nittany Lions have been picked as the conference preseason favorites every year since 2003.
- Under the direction of head coach Erica Dambach, the Nittany Lions have won 11 Big Ten regular season championships and four Big Ten Tournament championships as she enters her 16th season as Penn State's head coach.
- The Nittany Lions have the No. 1 2022 recruiting class in the nation per TopDrawerSoccer.com
- The Blue & White return 18 letterwinners and welcome 11 newcomers.
- With nine points so far this season, Schlegel has 94 career points.
- Seniors Penelope Hocking, Payton Linnehan and Schlegel were named Big Ten Players to Watch.
- Hocking and Schlegel were named to the United Soccer Coaches Players to Watch - Forwards list and to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List.
- The Nittany Lions have faced four ranked opponents having defeated No. 21 West Virginia, 2-0 and No. 4 Rutgers 2-0, lost to No. 12 Stanford, 2-0 and tied No. 19 Georgetown 2-2.
- Mieke Schiemann was named Big Ten Defender of the Week on Aug 30 after notching her first career goal and first career assist against WVU.
- Amelia White was Named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Aug. 23 after tallying an assist in each of her first two collegiate matches against Duquesne and Georgetown.
- Wiesner is ranked second in the conference with five total assists this season.
- Penn State is 6-0 when scoring the first goal.
NEXT TIME OUT
- The Nittany Lions stay at Jeffrey Field to host Michigan State at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
The Penn State women's soccer season is presented by the Smeal College of Business.