No. 18 Penn State Travels West to Face Illinois Thursday
Nittany Lions set out on B1G road trip for the first time in 2025 with evening test against Fighting Illini
#18 Penn State at Illinois
5-3-2 | 1-1-1 B1G
8-1-1 | 1-1-1 B1G
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 18 Penn State women's soccer hits the road for the first time in Big Ten Conference competition this Thursday, September 25, as the Nittany Lions square off against the Illinois Fighting Illini. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. (ET) from Demirjian Park, with streaming available to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices.
Follow the Action
For fans of the Nittany Lions unable to attend Thursday night’s Big Ten Conference matchup in Champaign, the Nittany Lions’ contest against the Fighting Illini will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices. Scott Sudikoff and Said Bravo will call the action from the Demirjian Park 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 the University of Illinois and StatBroadcast are available here.
KICKIN’ IT
The Blue & White return to action following a challenging pair of home fixtures last week in Big Ten competition, with the Nittany Lions experiencing a 1-1 draw against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on September 18, before dropping a narrow 2-1 decision to the Wisconsin Badgers most recently on September 21. PSU led in both matches, but yielded tallies late to close the book on both results. In the most recent battle with the Badgers, Penn State took home statistical victories in total shots and shots on goal but surrendered a decision in the corner kick competition. Individually, the Blue & White were led by graduate forward Kaitlyn MacBean and redshirt senior midfielders Riley Gleason and Julia Raich, who combined to register the Nittany Lion tally in the 30th minute of play.
The Excelsior, Minnesota, native MacBean extended her goal scoring streak to three straight matches, marking the longest such run of the season by any Nittany Lion fielder. MacBean is responsible for four of Penn State’s six goals against Big Ten competitors this season and has found the back of the net on five occasions in 2025 overall. MacBean becomes the second Penn Stater to crack double digits in the scoring column this year, with her 11 points ranking second behind sophomore forward Aubrey Kulpa’s total of 18. In the passing game against Wisconsin, Gleason notched her fourth straight match with an assist, improving on her league-leading tally with her eighth helper of the season. Raich also garnered credit for an assist to MacBean in the contest against the Badgers, with the Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, native earning credit for her third assist of the 2025 season to date.
STUDENT-ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT: RILEY GLEASON
Redshirt senior midfielder Riley Gleason has been a revelation for the Nittany Lions in her fifth and final season with the Blue & White, leading the PSU roster with eight assists on the 2025 campaign. Gleason's eight assists rank first in the Big Ten Conference and fifth in all of college soccer. Additionally, her 0.78 assists per match stand first in the league and rank second in the sport behind Louisville's Amelia Swinarski, who boasts nine helpers this year. Gleason is currently on a four-match point and assist streak, which both lead the Nittany Lions this year. Gleason, a native of Mission Viejo, California, is in her fifth season of competition in Happy Valley, redshirting during the 2022 fall campaign. The veteran holding midfielder has played in 60 total matches with 27 starts to her credit, amassing 19 total points split between a pair of goals and 15 combined assists highlighted by her career-defining start to 2025. Gleason has found the back of the net twice in her career, with one goal apiece coming in the 2021 and 2023 seasons. In the passing game, Gleason has already surpassed her single-season career-best mark from 2023, in which she logged four helpers in a career-high six-point scoring season.
Next Up: Illinois
FACING THE FIGHTING ILLINI
Under the direction of first-year head coach Katie Hultin, the Illinois Fighting Illini enter Thursday night's fixture boasting an astounding 8-1-1 overall start to the 2025 campaign, coupled with a 1-1-1 ledger through three chances against Big Ten foes. Hultin replaced legendary head coach Janet Rayfield in December of last season following Rayfield's retirement and has immediately elevated Illinois into the center of the national conversation. The Fighting Illini got off to the best start to a season in school history during the non-conference slate, working to a 7-0 start with power conference wins over Boston College, Kentucky and Missouri. B1G play has seen Illinois play relatively even through three attempts, logging a scoreless draw with Indiana, a 1-0 win at Oregon and 2-1 defeat on the road to Washington. Individually, senior forward Sarah Foley has been a revelation, leading the roster in total points with 13 and goals with six, highlighted by a hat trick against Valparaiso. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Ashley Stellon leads the team in assists with four, while redshirt junior Izzy Lee has played all but 45 minutes in goal for Illinois, turning back 45 saves with a .933 save percentage.
STORY OF THE SERIES
In what has largely been a dominant series history for the Blue & White, Penn State and Illinois prepare to square off on the pitch for the 35th time in history on Thursday night with the Nittany Lions wielding an impressive 30-4-0 overall record. The match will serve as the first contest between the two sides since challenging one another in Happy Valley on September 25, 2022, as well as the first meeting in Champaign since the spring of 2021. Penn State has won nine consecutive matches against Illinois dating to the most recent Fighting Illini victory on November 2, 2012, during the Big Ten Tournament in Bloomington, Indiana. PSU is 10-1 all-time in matches played on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The most recent meeting of the two teams came on Jeffrey Field on September 25, 2022, with the Blue & White picking up a 5-0 win on Senior and Alumni Day. Penn State saw four goal scorers contribute to the result, highlighted by the first career goal for then-redshirt freshman forward Kaitlyn MacBean.
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.