LONG BEACH, Calif. – Penn State women's soccer redshirt junior forward Kaitlyn MacBean landed National Team of the Week accolades according to TopDrawerSoccer, the organization announced Tuesday.
A native of Excelsior, Minnesota, MacBean recorded the most dominant single week of her collegiate career, scoring the match-winning goal that defeated West Virginia on the road last Thursday, Aug. 24 in addition to the match-winner over TCU on Sunday, Aug. 27. The score that took down the Mountaineers was the first match-winning goal of MacBean's collegiate career and fourth goal overall. She was one of just two student-athletes in the Big Ten Conference to record a pair of match-winning goals, and the only one to do so against opponents that were either ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
The veteran Nittany Lion attacker has appeared in all four matches over the course of the 2023 season and made her first collegiate start against TCU last week. She owns six shot attempts this year, with all six going down as shots on goal, ensuring an unblemished shots-on-goal percentage of 1.000. MacBean made her collegiate debut in the 2022 season after suffering season-ending injuries in each of the prior two years, ultimately finishing her redshirt sophomore campaign with a trio of goals and an assist. In just 805 career minutes played, MacBean has already racked up 11 points comprised of five goals and one assist at the collegiate level.
Following her recognition from TopDrawerSoccer, MacBean garnered Penn State's 58th all-time National Team of the Week recognition from the organization in addition to PSU's second accolade of the 2023 campaign. Senior defender Ellie Wheeler logged the first Nittany Lion national accolade of the season last week following her performances against North Carolina and West Chester. MacBean's honors from TopDrawerSoccer were the first national or conference weekly accolades of her collegiate career.
MacBean and the Nittany Lions return to action on Thursday, Aug. 31, as the Blue & White play host to the UCF Knights in a 7:30 p.m. (ET) fixture on Jeffrey Field. Penn State continues its five-match homestand later this weekend, as the Monmouth Hawks travel to Happy Valley for a 1 p.m. (ET) contest at Jeffrey. Both matches are slated for streaming to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+.
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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.
