COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 5 Penn State women's soccer continues its postseason run in the 2023 Big Ten Tournament with a semifinal matchup against the eighth-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes. Kickoff on Thursday, Nov. 2, is slated for 7:30 p.m. (ET) from Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, home of Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew. The match will air live to a national television audience via the Big Ten Network and FOX Sports App.
MATCH INFORMATIONS
#5 PENN STATE [4] vs. IOWA [8]
B1G Tournament Semifinal
Thursday, November 2, 2023 | 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Lower.com Field | Columbus, Ohio
Watch Live: BTN
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Purchase Tickets
TICKETS AND FAN INFORMATION
For fans interested in traveling to Columbus to support the Nittany Lions in their hunt for the program's 10th Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament title, click here to purchase tickets for Thursday evening's semifinal contest. Parking around Lower.com Field is available via Arena District Parking, with more information accessible by clicking here. For more information about the Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament, as well as hotel and dining options around the venue, click here to be redirected to the Big Ten Conference's Tournament Central webpage.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
For fans in Central Pennsylvania, and members of Nittany Nation around the world, Penn State's Big Ten Tournament semifinal match against Iowa is slated for a national television broadcast via the Big Ten Network, with streaming available on the Fox Sports App. Click here and sign in with your television provider credentials to access the live broadcast. Dean Linke will provide play-by-play commentary, while Illinois alumna and former All-B1G athlete Jackie Manny will serve as the broadcast's analyst. Live stats provided by the Big Ten Conference and StatBroadcast are available by clicking here.
KICKIN' IT
The Nittany Lions return to work following a dominant 3-0 result against the 24th-ranked and fifth-seeded Indiana Hoosiers last Sunday afternoon on Jeffrey Field. PSU saw three different goal scorers tally in the contest with four assists credited, highlighted by redshirt junior Kaitlyn MacBean's one-goal, one-assist performance. PSU booked its largest margin of victory in a Big Ten Tournament matchup since the 2011 season, as the Nittany Lions' 3-0 result over the Hoosiers matches a 3-0 victory against eighth-seeded Northwestern in the quarterfinal round on Nov. 2 of that year. One of the nation's most storied women's soccer programs and the standard in the Big Ten Conference, Penn State will make its 19th B1G Tournament semifinal showing all-time against the Hawkeyes Thursday evening in Columbus.
LAST TIME OUT: INDIANA (B1G QUARTERFINALS)
Aided by a dominant offensive effort and stalwart showing from the back line, fourth-seeded and sixth-ranked Penn State women's soccer cruised to a domineering 3-0 result against the fifth-seeded and 24th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers in Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal action Sunday afternoon on Jeffrey Field. Both teams ended the fixture with a deadlocked 11-11 tally in total shot attempts on the afternoon. PSU found its separation by generating quality scoring chances, as the Nittany Lions dominated the battle for shots on goal by doubling IU up, 8-4. Indiana's late-match pressure afforded the Hoosiers a trio of corner kick attempts, while the Blue & White were held without a corner of their own for the first time in the 2023 campaign.
HOW WE ALL GOT HERE
Iowa booked what proved to be their signature win of the season to date against top-seeded and B1G regular season co-champion Michigan State on the road in East Lansing. The Hawkeyes avenged a 3-0 road loss to the Spartans from Decision Sunday to secure their first Big Ten Tournament semifinal bid since the 2021 season. Then-No. 19 and newly minted No. 15 Nebraska gets set for its second consecutive B1G Tournament semifinal appearance following a hard-fought 3-2 win over seventh-seeded Ohio State last weekend in Lincoln. The Huskers utilized another dominant multi-goal performance from B1G Forward of the Year Eleanor Dale to secure the result. After a raucous but scoreless 110 minutes of work, third-seeded and 12th-ranked Wisconsin dominated against a freshman Rutgers goalkeeper in the penalty shootout to advance to their first B1G Semifinal since the 2020-21 COVID-adjusted spring season.
INTRODUCING IOWA
Fresh off one of the most stunning upsets in recent Big Ten Tournament memory, head coach Dave DiIanni and the eighth-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes arrive in Columbus boasting a 10-4-4 overall record coupled with a 3-4-3 finish in the B1G regular season. The Hawkeyes are in the midst of their sixth B1G postseason bid under DiIanni and will make their first semifinal appearance since the 2021 fall campaign. Iowa owns multiple significant results on the year, including a non-conference win over a surging Mississippi State side, as well as conference results against Rutgers, Purdue and Maryland.
Individually, Second Team All-Big Ten selection Samantha Cary leads a dominant defense that has logged 10 shutouts on the year, while senior keeper Macy Enneking serves as the squad's last line of defense with 48 saves and a 0.774 save percentage this season.
STORY OF THE SERIES
Penn State and Iowa get set to renew one of the most lopsided all-time series in Nittany Lion program history this week, as the Blue & White maintain a striking 26-3-1 edge against the Hawkeyes in an affair that dates to the 1997 campaign. PSU seeks its first win against Iowa since the 2020-21 regular season meeting against the Hawkeyes on the road in Iowa City. The Nittany Lions registered a hard-fought 1-0 result on March 25 of that season. Iowa avenged their regular season loss to PSU in the quarterfinals of the B1G Tournament by picking up a 1-0 result of their own in University Park.
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.
