UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's soccer program announced its 2024 schedule on Tuesday afternoon featuring 19 matches as well as 11 matches in Big Ten Conference play with 10 overall fixtures set to be contested on Jeffrey Field.
"Our program is excited to announce our 2024 match schedule and get preparations for the season underway," Head Coach Erica Dambach stated. "I think we've done an excellent job of booking a tough non-conference schedule to prepare us for what will be a grueling 11-match conference slate this year. We're excited to welcome UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten, and I can't wait for all 18 programs across the conference to solidify the league's place as the best in the nation. I'm confident that this will be an excellent year not only for our program, but for the growth of the women's game across the country. Our group had a tremendous amount of success last season, and I can't wait to see how we will build on that in the coming year."
Penn State's 2024 schedule features 19 total opponents, with 13 teams reaching the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament a year ago. Four of Penn State's challengers in the 2024 campaign reached the Sweet 16, with one foe in Nebraska advancing to the National Quarterfinals last season. PSU's eight-match non-conference schedule features a pair of foes each from the Big 12 Conference and Ivy League, with one opponent apiece from the Atlantic 10, Atlantic Coast, and Big East Conferences. The Blue & White will face off against a pair of teams they hosted at Jeffrey Field during the 2023 NCAA Tournament, with a rematch of the 2023 NCAA Sweet 16 coming on the road at Saint Louis, as well as a road test scheduled at reigning Big East champion Georgetown in early September.
The Nittany Lions christen their 31st varsity season and the 18th year of the Erica Dambach era on Thursday, August 15 against the Texas Tech Red Raiders from Jeffrey Field. Home action rolls on the following week with the Nittany Lions set to welcome ACC-rival Virginia on Thursday, August 22, before booking a cross-division in-state matchup with the West Chester Golden Rams for the second year in a row on Sunday, August 25. PSU closes its early home stretch with a border rivalry match against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Thursday, August 29, before setting out on its first road trip of the year on Sunday, September 1, in a rematch of the 2023 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 against the Saint Louis Billikens.
Penn State's challenging non-conference schedule presses on in early September, with the Blue & White set for a weekend of work in the northeast starting with a September 5 matchup against the Princeton Tigers on the road in New Jersey. PSU then heads south on Sunday, September 8, to face off against a familiar foe in the Big East champion Georgetown Hoyas in Washington D.C. The winningest program in Big Ten Conference women's soccer history kicks off its 31st year in the league on Thursday, September 12, with a league-opening night match at Jeffrey Field on deck against the Michigan Wolverines. Penn State closes out its 2024 non-conference calendar at home on Sunday, September 15, for Senior Day presented by the Penn State Alumni Association against the Ivy League-rival Columbia Lions.
The final 10 matches of the year feature 10-straight battles in Big Ten competition, beginning with another home test against the Northwestern Wildcats on Thursday, September 19. The Nittany Lions get set for their first of two tests against last year's B1G Regular Season Co-Champions on Sunday, September 22, with a home battle on deck against the Michigan State Spartans at Jeffrey Field. Penn State returns to road work and departs University Park in Big Ten play for the first time on Thursday, September 26, at Iowa, followed by its second matchup against the 2023 B1G Co-Champions in a week's time at Nebraska on Sunday, September 29. PSU ushers in the month of October with a single-match week, with the Blue & White testing the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Jeffrey Field on Friday night, October 4.
The final five Big Ten matches of the 2024 campaign feature a road-heavy schedule against familiar foes and first-year conference competitors. PSU travels southeast to battle the Maryland Terrapins in College Park on Thursday, October 13, before returning home to Happy Valley for its final home match of the season. The Nittany Lions welcome the Minnesota Golden Gophers to Jeffrey Field on Sunday, October 13. Penn State hits the road for the final three matches of the season, highlighted by a weekend trip to Southern California in mid-October. PSU tests the 2022 NCAA Champion UCLA Bruins on Thursday, October 13 in Los Angeles, before closing out the weekend in SoCal at USC on Sunday, October 20. The 19th and final competition of the 2024 regular season for Penn State comes on Sunday, October 27, as the Nittany Lions battle longtime league rival Ohio State on Decision Sunday.
Postseason play gets underway on Halloween Night, Thursday, October 31 with opening-round matches of the 2024 Big Ten Tournament. The league's postseason event will run through the Championship Match on Sunday, November 10. Tournament format, as well as the location for the 2024 B1G Women's Soccer semifinals and final, will be announced by the league office when available. The 2024 NCAA Tournament gets rolling with first round matches the weekend of November 15 through 17, followed by second and third round matches the weekend of November 21 through 24. National Quarterfinal matches will be contested the weekend of November 29 through December 1. Every match in the opening four rounds of the 2024 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament will be contested on campus sites. The Women's College Cup returns to Cary, North Carolina, and WakeMed Soccer Park, with National Semifinals on Friday, December 6, followed by the National Championship match on Monday, December 9.
Penn State returns to action in the 2024 season following one of the most successful campaigns in recent Nittany Lion history. PSU published a 16-3-4 overall record a season ago, extending the nation's second-longest active NCAA Tournament streak to 29 consecutive berths while notching the program's first National Quarterfinal appearance since 2018. The Blue & White saw a program-record five student-athletes selected in the 2024 NWSL Draft in addition to myriad accolades collected by Orlando Pride rookie Cori Dyke, highlighted by recognition as Penn State's female Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient for the 2023-24 academic year. The Nittany Lions will be led in the upcoming 2024 campaign by a pair of athletes who garnered All-Big Ten recognition in their careers, namely senior defender Mieke Schiemann and redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean.
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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.
