MATCH DAY: No. 23 Penn State WSOC at No. 22 West Virginia

OPENING KICKOFF

• No. 23 Penn State women’s soccer continues the 2026 campaign, the 20th under the direction of head coach Erica Dambach, with another ranked nonconference road matchup against No. 22 West Virginia on Thursday, August 20. Kickoff from Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown is set for 7 p.m. (ET) with a broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.  

• With a win, Dambach would earn her 300th career victory as the leader of Penn State women's soccer, further cementing her status as one of the all-time great coaches in collegiate women's soccer and Penn State Athletics. 

• The Blue & White joined this week’s United Soccer Coaches poll at the No. 23 spot following a 2-2 draw against then-No. 2 Notre Dame on August 16. The squad received votes in the preseason poll. 

• Aubrey Kulpa earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors on Tuesday after a three-point performance in South Bend. The junior forward assisted Paige Kalal’s goal before scoring one of her own just 1:19 later in an electric string of plays that gave the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead at Alumni Stadium. 

• After a scoreless first half, the contest broke open early in the second frame with a surge of Nittany Lion goals. At the 51:52 mark of the match, Kulpa sent a beautiful pass across the box to a trailing Kalal for the first goal of the season and her first as a Nittany Lion. The senior forward led Penn State with five shots in the season opener. 

• Just 1:19 seconds later, Kulpa forced a Fighting Irish turnover in their back line before shooting it past the keeper to give PSU a 2-0 advantage in the 54th minute of the second frame. The Cromwell, Connecticut native tallied a team-high three shots on goal against the Irish. 

• The Big Ten Conference published its preseason coaches poll on August 3 with the Nittany Lions placing sixth in the 18-member league. Michigan State earned the top spot followed by UCLA, defending regular season and tournament champion Washington, Wisconsin and Ohio State to round out the top five.  

MEET THE MOUNTAINEERS

• West Virginia is ranked in both the United Soccer Coaches and TopDrawerSoccer polls with the Mountaineers checking in at No. 22 in former and No. 16 in the latter.  

• WVU opened the 2026 season with a 2-0 victory over Dayton on August 13 in Morgantown. The Mountaineers controlled all meaningful stat categories against the Flyers with an 11-2 edge in shots and a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks. 

• Sophia Nickel was the only Mountaineer goal scorer as Dayton would concede an own goal in the contest. 

• West Virginia was picked to finish third in a tie with Kansas in the preseason Big 12 poll. TCU topped the list with Colorado taking the second spot. 

• Three Mountaineers earned Preseason All-Big 12 Soccer Team recognition: Redshirt senior goalkeeper Bailey Herfurth, senior midfielder Anna Hauer and senior defender Nyema Ingleton. Hauer and Ingleton were named to the All-Big 12 Second Team in 2025. 

• Herfurth started 18 of her 20 appearances last season with a 13 wins and 46 saves in 1,693 minutes. Hauer started all 21 matches in the midfield and contributed 13 points with four goals and five assists. Ingleton was another full-time starter, racking up 1,797 minutes for a WVU defense that totaled 11 shutouts a season ago. 

STORY OF THE SERIES

• Penn State enters Thursday night’s fixture on a nine-match unbeaten streak against West Virginia dating back to November 19, 2017. The Nittany Lions have won six in a row in the series since the 2021 season. 

• Overall, PSU owns a 15-7-3 advantage over WVU since the first meeting on October 26, 2003 in Morgantown, a match Penn State came out victorious, 4-1. 

• In fixtures played at West Virginia, the Blue & White own a 6-4-1 record. 

• Last season’s contest in Happy Valley was a 3-1 triumph for Penn State. Current Nittany Lions Hannah Jordan and Aubrey Kulpa tallied points with Jordan notching a goal and Kulpa tallying and assist. The year prior recent Penn State graduate Kaitlyn MacBean scored a hat trick in another 3-1 win.