ROSEMONT, Ill. – The No. 9 Penn State women’s soccer team picked up a trio of weekly accolades on Tuesday, with sophomore forward Aubrey Kulpa named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, freshman defender Hannah Jordan named B1G Freshman of the Week, and redshirt senior midfielder Julia Raich named an Honorable Mention to the TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week, both organizations announced.
Highlighted by the program’s trio of weekly honorees, Penn State kicked off its 2025 home slate last weekend with a pair of marquee victories against then-No. 23 Saint Louis and West Virginia. Penn State kicked off the home portion of its schedule with a resounding 4-1 victory against the Billikens to mark the third straight win in the all-time series. Later in the week on Sunday, August 24, PSU toppled the West Virginia Mountaineers by a 3-1 margin to extend the team’s winning streak in the all-time series to six in a row while remaining unbeaten against WVU in the last nine meetings.
Kulpa turned in one of the most impressive weeks of her collegiate career to date last week against No. 23 Saint Louis and West Virginia. Kulpa, a native of Cromwell, Connecticut, published a brace in Penn State's first nationally ranked win of the 2025 campaign, leading PSU with her pair of goals, four total points and three shots on goal. Kulpa also earned credit for her first collegiate match-winning goal in the dominant 4-1 result against the Billikens. In Sunday's match against the Mountaineers, Kulpa booked her first assist of the young season, closing the book on a five-point week for the second-year breakout star. Kulpa becomes Penn State’s first Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week since current teammate and graduate forward Kaitlyn MacBean secured those honors on September 3 of last year following her first collegiate hat trick against West Virginia.
Jordan continues to impress for the Nittany Lions from the outside back position, with the rookie performer currently ranked second on the PSU roster in total scoring with five points split between two goals and an assist on the campaign. From the back line, Jordan was crucial in a pair of victories for the Blue & White last week against No. 23 Saint Louis and RV West Virginia, with the Southlake, Texas, native finding the back of the net for the lid-lifting score against WVU to mark her second collegiate tally in just more than a week's time. Jordan also supplied an assist in Penn State's resounding 4-1 win over the Billikens, helping the Blue & White to their first win and nationally ranked result of 2025. In total, Jordan amassed 146 minutes of action on the pitch between both fixtures, contributing a three-point week for PSU. Jordan becomes Penn State’s first Big Ten Freshman of the Week since current senior Amelia White earned those laurels on August 23, 2022.
Raich, a native of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, is fresh off a dominant five-point week in her own right, turning in a goal per match with an additional assist in the win over West Virginia. The veteran midfielder and team captain found the back of the net for her first tally of the 2025 campaign against Saint Louis to mark PSU’s fourth goal of the competition. Against WVU, Raich cleaned up a rebound off the keeper’s mitts to publish her second goal in as many matches. Both of Raich’s goals were her only shots on goal of the week. Raich became the first Nittany Lion student-athlete to be named a TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week member since Katie Scott and Mieke Schiemann garnered honorable mention accolades following PSU’s Elite Eight matchup with North Carolina a season ago.
Led by their trio of individual weekly honorees, the newly-ninth-ranked Penn State women’s soccer team returns to action this Thursday night, August 28, with a 7:30 p.m. (ET) fixture scheduled against the Santa Clara Broncos from Jeffrey Field. The Nittany Lions’ battle with SCU will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices. Penn State’s match against the Broncos will also serve as the team’s Military Appreciation Night, with recognitions planned for veterans in attendance and their families.
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.