No. 12 Nittany Lions Set for Rematch of 2023 Sweet 16 at No. 19 Saint Louis
Penn State hits the road for the first time in the 2024 season against Billikens
#12 Penn State at #19 Saint Louis
3-1-0 | 0-0-0 B1G
2-0-2 | 0-0-0 A10
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 12 Penn State women’s soccer hits the road for the first time in the 2024 season with a pivotal non-conference test on deck, as the Nittany Lions visit the 19th-ranked Saint Louis Billikens in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Kickoff from Hermann Stadium on Sunday, September 1, is scheduled for 2 p.m. (ET), with the match streaming live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
Follow the Action
For fans of the Nittany Lions unable to attend Sunday afternoon’s contest in Eastern Missouri, the Nittany Lions’ nationally ranked clash with Saint Louis will be streamed to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Bill McDermott will serve as the broadcast’s analyst in the Hermann Stadium press box. Click the link here to be redirected to the live stream of the broadcast and sign in with credentials for access. Live stats provided by Saint Louis University and StatBroadcast are available here.
KICKIN’ IT
Highlighted by the 25th hat trick in program history, as well as the first hat trick of redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean’s career, No. 12 Penn State rolled to a dominant 3-1 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers last Thursday night, August 29, at Jeffrey Field. PSU’s dominant final line was accompanied by an overall effective performance on both ends of the pitch, with the Blue & White finishing the night with 13 total shot attempts in addition to eight shots on goal. West Virginia managed to get boot to ball on 14 occasions, narrowly edging out the Nittany Lions for the win on the shot chart. PSU outpaced the Mountaineers on target, however, by an 8-6 margin. Corners were evenly split, 5-5, with both teams committing five fouls apiece.
MacBean, a native of Excelsior, Minnesota, continued to etch her name in the Nittany Lion history books following Thursday night’s effort, scoring the first hat trick at Penn State since Payton Linnehan dropped a trio of goals against Central Connecticut State in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament a year ago. Her three-goal outing surpassed her previous career-high mark in single-match scoring, which included a brace in the 2023 NCAA Tournament Round of 16 matchup against upcoming opponent Saint Louis. Senior attacking midfielder Jordan Fusco has been dominant for the Nittany Lions as a facilitator over the first four matches of the year, with the veteran distributor leading the roster in total assists with four dishes in 2024. Fusco leads the Big Ten Conference in assists per match and is tied for the No. 3 spot in the nation with one dish per outing.
BALLIN’ LIKE BEANY
Redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean returns to action this weekend after recording the 25th hat trick in Nittany Lion women’s soccer program history on Thursday, August 29. MacBean submitted her highest-scoring individual performance in her collegiate career scoring the first hat trick at Penn State since Payton Linnehan dropped a trio of goals against Central Connecticut State in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament a year ago. MacBean would move into a tie for the third-longest goal-scoring streak in PSU history, as the veteran striker booked her seventh consecutive match with a goal to tie Maya Hayes, Katie Schoepfer and Christie Welsh in the category. MacBean became the first Nittany Lion student-athlete to record at least one goal in seven consecutive contests since Hayes accomplished that feat in a span running from August 21 to September 11, 2011. The redshirt senior forward has appeared in 46 matches and started 24 in her career with 2,409 career minutes played at PSU.
Next Up: Saint Louis
BATTLING THE BILLIKENS
Led by 12th-year head coach Katie Shields, the Saint Louis Billikens head into the fray this weekend boasting a 2-0-2 start to the 2024 season that featured a pair of wins over in-state rivals Missouri and Missouri State. SLU registered a pair of draws against Kansas City and BYU to get the season started at home. The Billikens are fresh off a dominant 19-3-2 campaign that included a pair of NCAA Tournament wins as well as the 2023 Atlantic 10 Conference regular season and tournament championships. On an individual basis, returning star striker Emily Gaebe has already contributed a trio of goals in the 2024 campaign to rack up six points, while five different athletes have contributed assists through this point in the year. Between the pipes, returning goalkeeper Emily Puricelli paces the squad with 19 saves to go along with her individual 2-0-2 record to match the squad.
STORY OF THE SERIES
Penn State gets set for its second all-time meeting against the Billikens following last year’s meeting in the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Tournament, with the Blue & White taking last year’s meeting by a 4-3 margin in overtime. The Nittany Lions also boast an untouched 18-0 record against Atlantic 10 Conference. The Nittany Lions got out to an impressive 2-0 start in the match, but the Billikens battled back to take a 3-2 lead with goals in the 31st, 65th and 71st minutes. PSU called on a last-minute prayer of a goal from Mieke Schiemann to force overtime in the 87th minute. In the 98th minute of the contest, Olivia Borgen and Kaitlyn MacBean connected on a pair of passes that led to a scoring opportunity for Payton Linnehan, who chipped the ball above the goalkeeper right beneath the crossbar with her left boot to punch PSU’s ticket to the National Quarterfinals.
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.