ROSEMONT, Ill. – Penn State women's soccer senior+ midfielder and team captain Cori Dyke collected Big Ten Defender of the Year accolades, while five Nittany Lions totaled seven overall appearances on All-Big Ten teams following a release from the league office Friday afternoon.
Dyke, a native of Littleton, Colorado, becomes the ninth recipient and seventh woman in program history to land either B1G Defender of Defensive Player of the Year accolades since the award's inception in the early 2000s. She joins the elite company of two-time award winners Alyssa Naeher and Whitney Church, in addition to one-time recipients Natalie Jacobs, Lindsay Bach, Ali Krieger and Kaleigh Riehl. She also became the first individual award recipient for the Penn State women's soccer program since Ally Schlegel earned B1G Forward of the Year and Eva Alonso took home B1G Freshman of the Year laurels in the COVID-altered 2020-21 spring season.
In addition to her recognition as the Big Ten's Defender of the Year, Dyke collected Penn State's only All-Big Ten First Team nod of the 2023 season and 81st selection to the team overall. The veteran holding midfielder and newly converted center back started and played in all 17 matches for the Nittany Lions over the course of the regular season, playing 90 minutes on 11 occasions while leading PSU to the best goals-against average in the Big Ten Conference with a 0.529 mark. Dyke leads all Penn State fielders with 1,364 minutes played this season and ranks fourth on the team with 10 points split between four goals and a pair of assists on the year.
Senior defender Eva Alonso published a breakout 2023 regular season and garnered Penn State's 54th appearance all-time on the All-Big Ten Second Team. The former Big Ten Freshman of the Year burst onto the scene as a regular starter for the Blue & White in the holding midfield, appearing and starting in 16 of Penn State's 17 contests while leading the team in assists by a wide margin, racking up seven dishes on the year. The Madrid, Spain, native registered her second appearance on the All-Big Ten Second Team in her career, last appearing on the esteemed list in her freshman year back in 2020-21.
The best goalkeeper in the Big Ten by practically every statistical measure, graduate captain and shot-stopper Katherine Asman hauled in Penn State's 55th appearance on the All-Big Ten Second Team. The Roswell, Georgia, native started all 17 regular season matches and booked the best goals-against average in the league with a 0.505 mark. Asman's graduate campaign saw her become the fourth woman in PSU history to crack the 50-win club between the pipes in addition to reaching the top-three in Nittany Lion annals with 25 career shutouts. Asman landed the first All-B1G recognition of her career, joining last season's commendation as the Big Ten Tournament Defensive MVP in her trophy case.
Redshirt junior forward Kaitlyn MacBean spent the 2023 regular season carving out a reputation for herself as one of the premier clutch performers across the Big Ten Conference, notching the third-most match-winning goals in the league this season. MacBean's five goals and one assist this season place her third on the roster in total scoring with 11 points. In recognition of her outstanding efforts, MacBean logged the seventh All-Big Ten Third Team designation in Penn State program history while securing her first individual All-B1G accolades since she arrived in Happy Valley.
Senior+ defender Kate Wiesner rounded out the five Nittany Lions to garner All-Big Ten recognition in the program's 30th varsity season, with the Monrovia, California, native picking up All-B1G Third Team designation as well as landing the institution's nomination to the Big Ten Sportsmanship Team. Wiesner's leadership on and off the pitch has been instrumental this season, as the veteran outside back helped catapult the Big Ten's strongest defensive unit while playing 90 minutes in eight of 17 matches. She finished the regular season with two goals and four assists to rank sixth on the roster with eight points. Wiesner landed her first All-B1G recognition overall while becoming PSU's eighth All-Big Ten Third Team designee.
No. 6 Penn State women's soccer enters the postseason in its 30th varsity campaign this weekend, as the fourth-seeded Nittany Lions play host to the fifth-seeded and 24th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers in a rematch of last week's regular season matchup. PSU's Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal match from Jeffrey Field is slated for a 1 p.m. (ET) kickoff on Sunday, Oct. 29, with streaming available to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+.
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The 30th Season of Penn State women's soccer is presented by the Smeal College of Business.
