No. 8 Penn State Concludes Three-Match Homestand with Wisconsin

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 8 Penn State women's soccer lays a three-match unbeaten streak on the line and closes out its three-match B1G-opening homestand this Sunday, September 21, as the Blue & White welcome the Wisconsin Badgers to Jeffrey Field in a 3 p.m. (ET) fixture. The match will air to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices.

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 will celebrate its annual Alumni Match in the contest against the Badgers, with the Nittany Lions set to welcome back program alumni and family members from all 32 years of Penn State’s history as a women’s soccer program. The Blue & White will honor alumni at the halftime intermission of Sunday’s match with a special recognition ceremony. Additionally, Sunday’s fixture will serve as the annual THON Match, with PSU welcoming members of the world’s largest student-run philanthropy to help raise awareness and funds for the battle against childhood cancer.

KICKIN’ IT

Despite an impressive left-footed finish in the 30th minute from graduate forward Kaitlyn MacBean that put the Nittany Lions up a tally, Penn State ultimately played to a level 1-1 result with the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Thursday night, September 18. The Cornhuskers were able to answer back with time winding down in the 90th minute of play, with a Nebraska player mustering a miraculous Olimpico goal to deadlock the fixture with 32 seconds remaining. The final stat sheet suggested a largely level match between a pair of intense Big Ten challengers, with the Blue & White picking up a narrow 9-8 advantage on the shot chart, with Nebraska taking the margin in on-target attempts by a 4-3 split. Penn State has won the margin in total shots in each of the last three contests dating to PSU’s 3-0 win over the Liberty Flames on the road on September 7. The Cornhuskers picked up a decided advantage in the corner kick competition, defeating PSU by a 7-1 margin in the category, including the match-leveling Olimpico score in the 90th minute of play.

MacBean continued her impressive individual start to B1G competition, bringing her scoring total against B1G opposition to three goals thus far. In league play, MacBean is single-handedly responsible for three of Penn State’s five conference tallies. The veteran striker is up to four goals on the campaign and nine points, good enough to move into sole possession of second place on the PSU roster behind sophomore forward Aubrey Kulpa. Elsewhere in the attack, redshirt senior midfielder Riley Gleason distributed her seventh assist of the 2025 campaign on the goal from MacBean, marking her third consecutive match with at least one helper. The Mission Viejo, California, native remains the conference's statistical leader in the assist column this year.

THE STRENGTH IS THE SCHEDULE

Penn State boasts the No. 5 non-conference strength of schedule in women's college soccer and the No. 7 non-conference RPI after facing four teams that were ranked or receiving votes during the non-conference slate. The Nittany Lions have already played or will play against six opponents that were either ranked or receiving votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, released on September 16, with Virginia (#1), Duke (#3), Ohio State (#22), Illinois (RV), Washington (RV) and Northwestern (RV) appearing on the 2025 Nittany Lion schedule. The Blue & White scheduled 10 fixtures against teams that reached the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Tournament a year ago. Six of PSU’s seven non-conference challengers made the NCAA field. Of PSU’s 11 B1G competitors, four reached the NCAA Tournament with Ohio State and Wisconsin headlining the group by reaching the Sweet 16.