No. 9 Nittany Lions Host Senior Night Against JMU

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 9 Penn State women's soccer concludes its four-match non-conference homestand this Sunday, August 31, as the Nittany Lions play host to the James Madison Dukes in a 6 p.m. (ET) kick from Jeffrey Field. The match will serve as Penn State's Senior Night presented by the Penn State Alumni Association, with the contest and pre-match senior ceremony set to stream via B1G+ and the B1G+ app.

FAN INFORMATION, PARKING & PROMOTIONS

With the start of construction projects benefitting all 800+ student-athletes at Penn State, notably the construction of the Jeffrey Field Soccer Complex at the south end of the facility, elements of the Jeffrey Field match day experience have changed. Due to construction, the grass 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 south 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. ADA accessibility 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 at the main entrance to the lot.

Penn State’s test against James Madison will serve as the Nittany Lions’ Senior Night presented by the Penn State Alumni Association, with the Blue & White set to honor seven current or former Nittany Lions in a ceremony prior to kickoff. PSU will celebrate graduate Kaitlyn MacBean, redshirt seniors Julia Raich, Amanda Poorbaugh and Riley Gleason, seniors Amelia White and Olivia Borgen, as well as former Nittany Lion Ava Minnier, who medically retired prior to the start of the 2025 campaign. The pre-match ceremony is set to begin approximately 20 minutes prior to kickoff, with streaming of the ceremony available via the B1G+ watch link.

KICKIN’ IT

Powered by a pair of tallies from sophomore forward Aubrey Kulpa and a dominant night from the Nittany Lion back line, PSU toppled the Santa Clara Broncos by a 2-0 margin last Thursday night from Jeffrey Field. Kulpa, a native of Cromwell, Connecticut, booked her second multi-goal match of the season and first brace since finding the back of the net twice on August 21 against Saint Louis. As a team, Penn State picked up its third consecutive victory to rise to 3-1-0 overall through the first four opportunities of the year. The Nittany Lions have outscored opponents by a 9-2 margin over the last three wins from Happy Valley, with Penn State logging multi-goal wins in three-straight fixtures for the first time since toppling Monmouth, Princeton and Maryland in a stretch spanning September 3 through 15, 2023.

The Blue & White put together one of their strongest team performances of the season against Santa Clara, taking home a variety of statistical victories in addition to the overall result. On the shot chart, Penn State came away with a 9-4 differential in total attempts in addition to a 4-0 margin in terms of on-target opportunities. The Nittany Lions held their opponent to zero shots on target for the first time since limiting West Chester to a goose egg in the category on August 25 of last season. PSU played SCU level in the corner kick competition, with both programs earning a trio of attempts on the night. Penn State saw a pair of student-athletes land Big Ten Player of the Week honors, with sophomore forward Aubrey Kulpa landing Offensive Player of the Week accolades while freshman defender Hannah Jordan garnered Freshman of the Week status. Additionally, redshirt senior midfielder and captain Julia Raich secured TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week accolades.

ON THE ATTACK

Penn State's attack has been the highlight of the early going in the 2025 season, with the Blue & White managing multi-goal outings against all four of their opponents this year. PSU has found the back of the net 11 times, an average of 2.75 goals per match, which ranks third in the Big Ten so far. Sophomore forward Aubrey Kulpa has been the spark plug for Penn State's early offensive success, with the Cromwell, Connecticut, native singlehandedly responsible for five of PSU's 11 goals to date. Kulpa is currently the Big Ten Conference statistical leader in match winning goals (two), goals per match (1.25), points per match (2.75), total goals (five) and total points (11), ranking inside the national top-25 in each of those statistical categories. In the passing game, redshirt senior midfielder Riley Gleason has been impressive through the early going, logging a trio of assists against Duke, Saint Louis and Santa Clara. Her three assists rank second in the B1G and 24th nationally, while her 0.75 assists per match stand second in the league.