KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Penn State women's soccer senior forward Rebecca Cooke garnered United Soccer Coaches Forwards to Watch status, the organization announced on Tuesday afternoon.
"Rebecca is undoubtedly an exceptionally talented athlete," Dambach stated. "Obviously, she published the most productive offensive season of any student-athlete in the country last season at Quinnipiac. We have very high expectations for her and our entire front line this season. We anticipate a productive year from that whole group, and I know that individual recognition for any of them is recognition for all of them. I'm excited to see all that we will accomplish as a squad together this season."
Cooke joins a prestigious list of competitors from across all of college soccer, with the release featuring 32 female student-athletes overall. The newly minted Nittany Lion is one of just three student-athletes at the forward position representing the Big Ten Conference, joining Nebraska's Sarah Weber and Rutgers veteran Riley Tiernan. The Dublin, Ireland, native Nittany Lion is also one of six returning United Soccer Coaches All-Americans from the 2022 campaign. Cooke joins the likes of Florida State's Jody Brown, Texas star Trinity Byars, BYU striker Brecken Mozingo, Arkansas star Anna Podojil and Brittany Raphino of Brown.
Cooke arrived in Happy Valley following the most productive individual season of her career in 2022, scoring a nation's-best 22 goals alongside seven assists for a Division I-leading 51 total points. She also managed to connect on an NCAA-high six match-winning goals a year ago. The forward was named a United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News Third-Team All-American in addition to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Golden Boot recipient in 2022. Over the duration of her career at Quinnipac, Cooke scored 39 goals and added 11 assists for a total of 89 points.
Before joining Quinnipiac, Cooke represented the Republic of Ireland on the U17 and U19 National Teams. She has also previously competed with the Irish's Senior National Team in a friendly competition Belgium in 2019. She maintained her club soccer commitment with Shelbourne FC, an Irish association football team in Cooke's native Dublin.
The United Soccer Players to Watch lists are curated and released by the Division I All-America Committees to promote college soccer leading up to the official start date for the regular season later this week. The lists include United Soccer Coaches All-Americans and first or second team All-Region players from 2022, who are scheduled to return for the 2023 season.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State women's soccer. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion women's soccer team on X and Instagram @PennStateWSOC, in addition to the team's Facebook page at /PSUWomensSoccer.
The 30th Season of Penn State women's soccer is presented by the Smeal College of Business.
