UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State women's soccer kicks off the 30th varsity season in program history on Thursday, August 17, as the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions host the second-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in a 7 p.m. fixture on Jeffrey Field. The match is slated for a national television broadcast via the Big Ten Network.
MATCH INFORMATION
#2 NORTH CAROLINA at #10 PENN STATE
Thursday, August 17, 2023 | 7 p.m. (ET)
Jeffrey Field | University Park, Pa.
Watch Live: Big Ten Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
PROMOTIONS & PARKING
Penn State's 2023 season opener will serve as the program's annual March to the Match, led by Park Avenue Army, the official student support group of Nittany Lion soccer. Students are encouraged to congregate outside of Findlay Commons at the center of Penn State's East Area dorms. PSU's battle with North Carolina is also a featured event of Welcome Week, with incoming freshmen and their families invited to attend the first on-campus regular season athletic event of the 2023-24 academic year in University Park.
Parking for all Penn State women's soccer matches will require a valid permit or payment of the applicable parking fee for campus lots. Fans with valid Penn State University parking permits will be permitted to park at women's soccer matches 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 the ParkMobile app, or by clicking here. Prepayment is available through 11:59 p.m. the day before each event. Event day parking will be $10 per vehicle.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
For fans unable to attend in person, Penn State's season opener against North Carolina will be broadcast nationally via the Big Ten Network, with streaming available on the FOX Sports App. Dean Linke will provide play-by-play commentary, while Illinois alumna and former All-B1G athlete Jackie Manny will serve as analyst. The contest will be Penn State's first nationally televised match from Jeffrey Field since downing Wisconsin in a 3-0 fixture on Oct. 13 of last year. Live stats are available by clicking here.
Before the match, fans are invited to tune in to Penn State's live Pre-Match Show hosted by the voice of the Nittany Lions, Brian Tripp. Follow along on the Penn State women's soccer social media channels for a behind-the-scenes look into match day at Jeffrey Field, hear from Head Coach Erica Dambach and senior+ midfielder Kate Wiesner and relive PSU's win over North Carolina in 2017 with program alumna Maddie (Elliston) Nolf.
KICKIN' IT
The Blue & White hit the pitch for the first time since publishing a 15-5-3 ledger a season ago coupled with a 5-3-2 mark in Big Ten Conference play. PSU finished sixth in the 2022 regular season standings but caught fire late in the season to secure the program's ninth Big Ten Tournament title with a 3-2 win over top-seeded Michigan State. PSU is led by 17-year head coaching veteran Erica Dambach, who enters the 2023 season just two wins away from her 300th career victory as a skipper. Dambach is 298-117-28 in her career and 258-89-25 at PSU. Seven starters from last year's squad return to the pitch for the Nittany Lions, highlighted by PSU's trio of captains in midfielders Kate Wiesner and Cori Dyke in addition to goalkeeper Katherine Asman.
THE B1G LEAGUES
For the 21st year in a row, the Penn State women's soccer program was selected as the favorite to win the Big Ten Conference regular season championship following a preseason poll of the league's coaches, the B1G announced on Tuesday, August 15. Penn State has been selected as the preseason favorite by the Big Ten Conference's women's soccer coaches in every season since 2003. Since that inaugural selection in the early 2000s, the Nittany Lions have hauled in 15 Big Ten Regular Season Championships in addition to six Big Ten Tournament titles.
TAKING ON THE TAR HEELS
North Carolina enters the 2023 season fresh off a national runner-up finish in the 2022 NCAA Tournament coupled with a 20-5-1 overall record. UNC opens the 2023 campaign as the second-ranked team in the nation behind defending National Champion UCLA. The Tar Heels finished in a tie for the ACC's regular season championship with an 8-2 league ledger last year and ultimately finished as the ACC Tournament runner-up following a loss to Florida State. UNC is led by 47-year head coaching veteran Anson Dorrance, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Soccer history. On the pitch, the Tar Heels return nine starters and 25-of-37 letterwinners from last year's team, highlighted by All-ACC performers Avery Patterson and Ally Sentnor in addition to United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-American midfielder Sam Meza.
STORY OF THE SERIES
Penn State and North Carolina get set for the ninth all-time meeting between the two schools in women's soccer, with the Tar Heels maintaining a 6-2 lead overall. The programs first met in the 1999 season, with Penn State stunning the top-ranked Tar Heels on the road by a 3-2 margin. PSU and UNC will meet on Jeffrey Field for just the second time in series history. The most recent meeting of the two squads came in University Park in 2017 when the Nittany Lions published a classic 1-0 upset over UNC. Frannie Crouse scored the match-winning goal, while goalkeeper Rose Chandler published the clean sheet.
WOMEN'S SOCCER SEASON PREVIEW | ERICA DAMBACH
WOMEN'S SOCCER SEASON PREVIEW | CORI DYKE
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.
