No. 14 Nittany Lions Welcome No. 23 Saint Louis in Home-Opening Matchup
Penn State kicks off 32nd season at Jeffrey Field with nationally ranked test on B1G+
#23 Saint Louis at #14 Penn State
1-0-0 | 0-0-0 A10
0-1-0 | 0-0-0 B1G
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 14th-ranked Penn State women's soccer team kicks off its 2025 home slate this Thursday, August 21, as the Nittany Lions play host to the 23rd-ranked Saint Louis Billikens in an 8 p.m. (ET) fixture from Jeffrey Field. The match will serve as the second half of a Nittany Lion soccer doubleheader, with the men's team kicking off their 2025 campaign at 5 p.m. (ET) against Stetson. Both matches will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app.
FAN INFORMATION, PARKING & PROMOTIONS
With the continuation of construction projects benefitting all 800-plus student-athletes at Penn State, notably the construction of the Jeffrey Field Soccer Performance Center at the south end of the facility, as well as West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium, elements of the Jeffrey Field match day experience have changed. Due to construction, the area behind the south goal will not be accessible to spectators. Spectator entrances are located on either end of Jeffrey Field near the corner flags on the east side of the facility. For more spectator information, as well as a diagram of the facility, click here.
Spectator parking is located in the Stadium West lot, with entrance to the lot located at the intersection of Park Avenue and Stadium West Drive. Additional parking is available in both the Porter North and Jordan East lots. ADA accessible parking is still available on either side of the facility. Spectators wishing to access the University Drive seating area should park in the Stadium West lot closest to the Bryce Jordan Center and walk down the sidewalk to the main entrance on the University Drive side of the facility. To prepay for parking at a discounted rate, click here. Event day parking will be $10 via ParkWhiz or the HONK app. Check in-lot signage for specific parking instructions or speak to a parking attendant upon arrival to the lot.
Penn State’s home-opening match will serve as the second-half of a Nittany Lion soccer doubleheader, with the PSU men’s program kicking off their 2025 campaign three hours before the women’s side in a 5 p.m. (ET) test against the Stetson Hatters. Thursday marks the home-opening night for both programs, with 2025 season posters available for both programs. As always, admission to all Penn State men’s and women’s soccer matches are FREE TO THE PUBLIC.
Follow the Action
For fans unable to attend Penn State’s 2025 home-opening match in person, the contest will stream live to worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices. Jeremy Rose and Alex Harkins will call the action from the Jeffrey Field press box. The link to tune into Penn State’s first match of the season on B1G+ is available here. Live stats, provided by the Pennsylvania State University and StatBroadcast, are available here. For more information on the Jeffrey Field match day experience, click the Jeffrey Field Know Before You Go link here.
KICKIN’ IT
Penn State returns to action following its season-opening contest against the Duke Blue Devils last Thursday, August 14, with the Nittany Lions dropping a back-and-forth affair by a 3-2 differential on the road in Durham. The Blue & White saw a pair of goals find the back of the net thanks to breakout performances from a pair of underclassmen, with sophomore forward Aubrey Kulpa tallying for the eighth time in her career while freshman defender Hannah Jordan scored in her first match as a collegiate athlete on a set piece from the back line. Individually, Penn State saw a quartet of student-athletes make their collegiate debuts against the Blue Devils, with jordan joining redshirt freshman forward Jolie Farmer, redshirt sophomore forward Nico Kiorpes and freshman midfielder Riley Cross appearing.
In the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll of the 2025 campaign, released on August 19, Penn State garnered the No. 14 national ranking, the fourth-highest mark in the Big Ten Conference behind UCLA (#4), USC (#5) and Iowa (#9). Additionally, the Nittany Lions picked up the third-highest ranking in the Big Ten Conference per TopDrawerSoccer, landing the No. 10 spot, narrowly trailing the Bruins (#4) and Hawkeyes (#9) following last week's action.
JEFFREY JUMPIN’
Penn State prepares for its 32nd all-time home-opening match at Jeffrey Field, with the Blue & White boasting an impressive 23-3-5 overall record in their first match of the season at home. The Nittany Lions will open their home slate a week following the first match day of the 2025 season last week, marking the first time since 2021 PSU opened a slate away from home. The Nittany Lions are riding a five-match unbeaten streak in their home openers, with their last loss in a home-opening matchup coming against then-No. 3 Stanford on August 23, 2019. Since then, Penn State has booked three wins and two draws in their home-opening fixtures, with wins coming against Indiana in the spring of 2021, UMass in the fall of that year, and Texas Tech a year ago, while the draws came against Georgetown and North Carolina in 2022 and 2023, respectively. PSU will play on Jeffrey Field in the month of August for the 53rd time in school history this Thursday against the Billikens, with Penn State boasting a dominant 37-8-7 mark against opponents in Happy Valley during that month all-time. Last year, Penn State played four-straight matches at home in the month of August, with the Nittany Lions going 3-1-0 in that stretch with wins over No. 8 Texas Tech, West Chester and West Virginia.
Next Up: #23 Saint Louis
BATTLING THE BILLIKENS
Under the direction of 13-year head coaching veteran Katie Shields, the Saint Louis Billikens arrive in Happy Valley following an impressive season-opening matchup on the road at Kansas City last week. SLU tallied four goals and utilized four different goal scorers en route to a 4-0 opening-night win. Penn State is the first of three Big Ten opponents SLU will face over the next two weeks. Saint Louis' diversified attack against the Kangaroos featured goals from Emily Fox, Rylee Howard, Lucy Schwartz and Audree Smith, with five different student-athletes mustering at least one assist. Izzy Luebbert led the way for the Billikens in the passing game, tallying a trio of assists in the match. In goal, Emma Parker earned the start and played 45 minutes, while Nimu Karani went the rest of the way, booking a save in the process. SLU was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Atlantic 10, with five Billikens appearing on the preseason All-Conference team in Hope Kim, Hannah Larson, Eva Schreiber, Julia Simon and Luebbert earning those honors.
STORY OF THE SERIES
The Nittany Lions and Billikens will meet for the third time in history this Thursday in Happy Valley, with all three meetings coming over the last three seasons. PSU and SLU will also face off in the regular season for the second time ever after last year's fixture in St. Louis went PSU's way. Penn State maintains an untouched 2-0-0 mark through the last two contests. Last year's meeting in Missouri saw the Blue & White come away with a pivotal 2-1 victory over Saint Louis, with then redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean tallying both Nittany Lion scores in the match. The first-ever meeting between Saint Louis and Penn State came in the third round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, with the two sides battling through a dramatic back-and-forth regulation period to force overtime. PSU booked the first two tallies, but SLU was able to snap back with the next three. An 87th-minute equalizer off Mieke Schiemann knotted things up, and the eventual match winner by Payton Linnehan came in the 98th.
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 2025 Penn State women's soccer season is presented by Highmark.