MATCH DAY: Penn State WSOC vs. Iowa

OPENING KICKOFF

• Penn State women’s soccer begins a pivotal, three-match homestand with a primetime matchup against Iowa on Thursday. The Nittany Lions will welcome the Hawkeyes to Jeffrey Field for the annual White Out presented by MITER Brands. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET) with a live stream on B1G+. 

• The NCAA published the season’s first RPI rankings this week with the Nittany Lions earning the No. 16 spot. Penn State earned one vote in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll. 

• The Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes both enter Thursday night with only one goal allowed in Big Ten play. Iowa has been held scoreless in conference action to this point. 

• The Blue & White took the road for a second consecutive Big Ten shutout with a 2-0 victory over Maryland on September 18 after defeating Minnesota, 1-0, the week before. 

• PSU held the Terrapins to just six shots in the contest, setting a new season-low in shots allowed after holding the Golden Gophers to seven attempts the match prior. 

• Senior forward Paige Kalal recorded her first match with multiple goal contributions in a Penn State uniform with a goal in the first half and an assist in the second in the win. Kalal’s goal was a beautiful, left-footed strike from well beyond the box. Her three-point performance tied her for the most points on the team with nine, joining junior forward Aubrey Kulpa with three goals and three assists. Kalal and Kulpa are tied for 12th in the Big Ten in points. 

• Kalal’s helper set up freshman midfielder Paige Pasinski who notched the second goal of her young career. Making her fourth consecutive start, Pasinski took a career-high five shots, which was also the most match-high for either team. 

• With four saves against the Terps, redshirt senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress posted her second straight clean sheet. She started the Bucknell and Brown matches and held both sides scoreless before being relieved by freshman Lily Selvy, who completed the shutouts. Gress is up to 31 saves, a 0.838 save percentage and a 0.785 goals against average. 

• PSU attempted 11 corner kicks in the Minnesota victory, its most since in a single match since September 5, 2024 against Princeton. 

• Eight Nittany Lions have registered at least three points with all of them recording at least one goal and one assist. Five additional members of the squad have at least one goal contribution each. In total, PSU has recorded 53 points through eight matches. 

IOWA INTRODUCTION

• Iowa enters Thursday night’s contest with a 5-2-3 record, including a 0-1-2 mark in Big Ten play. The team was ranked inside the United Soccer Coaches poll at No. 25 in the week four edition of the poll on September 8. 

• The Hawkeyes have yet to score through three Big Ten matches but have only allowed one goal along the way. They make the trek to Jeffrey Field following consecutive 0-0 draws against Nebraska and Illinois. Iowa opened Big Ten play with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Minnesota.  

• Berit Parten leads Iowa in points (13) and assists (five) while tacking on four goals. She is tied for third in the Big Ten in points and ranks first in the conference in shots with 41. 

• Reilly Heman has five goals to pace the Hawkeyes in the category. She ties for fourth in the league in the statistic. 

• Elle Wildman and Kylie Cino both have scored three goals with Wildman adding on three assists. 

• Braelyn Galt starts in goal for Iowa. She boasts a 0.51 goals against average, 0.821 save percentage and 23 saves on the season. 

• Iowa boasts the second-best goal differential at +18 with 23 goals to five. The Hawkeyes average 21.4 shots per match compared to 7.3 for their opponents. They have 88 corner kicks to 20.

STORY OF THE SERIES

• Penn State has historically owned the all-time series against Iowa with a 26-5-1 advantage. Despite that record, Iowa is unbeaten in the last three contests with PSU coming up short in three of the last four fixtures. The Hawkeyes took the last matchup in the series, 2-1, in September of 2024. 

• The series dates back to the 1997 season. From the two program’s first meeting until 2013, the Nittany Lions won 19 consecutive contests. 

• The last win for the Blue & White came in Iowa City during the COVID-altered 2020 season played in the spring of 2021.  

• Penn State and Iowa have not played a regular season match at Jeffrey Field since September 30, 2018, a match the Nittany Lions won by a 2-0 margin.