MATCH DAY: Penn State WSOC vs. USC

OPENING KICKOFF

• Penn State women’s soccer continues its three-match homestand as the Nittany Lions host the USC Trojans at Jeffrey Field on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET) with a live stream on B1G+. The team will celebrate the THON Match and Military Appreciation. 

• 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. 

• Penn State boasts the third-most goals per match in the Big Ten at 2.111 and is sixth in the league in goal differential with an average margin of victory of 1.33 goals. 

• The Blue & White are coming off a 1-1 draw against Iowa at Jeffrey Field on Thursday night. The tie snapped a two-match winning streak for the Nittany Lions after besting Minnesota and Maryland previously, but PSU maintained an undefeated mark at Jeffrey Field with a 3-0-2 record. 

• Junior forward Aubrey Kulpa notched her fourth goal of the season to regain sole possession of the team lead in the statistic. Following a deep entry pass from senior defender Brooklyn Antonucci, Kulpa worked her way inside the box for a left-footed goal that squeezed between multiple defenders and the near post. Antonucci’s helper was her first goal contribution as a Nittany Lion. 

• The fifth minute score gave Kulpa her 11th point of the season, the most on the team. She is 10th in the Big Ten in points per match at 1.22. She also ranks sixth with 15 shots on goal.  

• In the draw, Penn State outshot Iowa by an 18-15 margin, including eight shots on goal to five for the Hawkeyes. 

• Redshirt senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress made four saves in the draw, bringing her season total to 35, the fourth-most in the conference. Her 0.833 save percentage is sixth in the Big Ten. Gress also has a 0.81 goals against average. She has yet to allow multiple goals in a league contest to date and has two clean sheets to her name in conference competition. 

• Eight Nittany Lions have registered at least three points with all of them recording at least one goal and one assist. Six additional members of the squad have at least one goal contribution each. In total, PSU has recorded 56 points through nine matches, the fifth-most points in the conference. 

STUDYING SOUTHERN CAL

• The Trojans enter Sunday’s contest with a 1-6-3 record (0-3-1 Big Ten), currently riding a six-match winless streak that dates back to August 27. 

• USC has dropped Big Ten matches to then-No. 4 Michigan State, Purdue and most recently No. 8 Ohio State on Thursday. The lone tie for the Trojans came against Oregon on September 18. The lone win this season for the team came against New Mexico State in a 4-0 shutout of the Aggies.  

• The team has conceded 19 goals this season to just nine of its own but has remained competitive in the shot battle with 11.7 per match compared to allowed 12.9. The Trojans’ 48 shots on goal are just slightly behind the 60 they have faced on the opposite end. 

• Lily Biddulph leads USC in scoring, with three goals on seven shots through 10 matches. Eleanor Morrissey is the only other member of the team to record three goal contributions as she has four points behind two assists and a goal. Savannah Leifried is tied with Morrissey for the team lead in assists with two. 

• Goalkeeper Josie Biehl has started nine of 10 matches between the posts for the Trojans. She is second in the Big Ten with 40 saves with one shutout in her freshman campaign.

STORY OF THE SERIES

• Penn State and USC have met just five times previously with the series knotted up at 2-2-1.  

• Sunday’s contest will be the first time the Trojans make the cross-country trip to Happy Valley as Penn State has never hosted USC at Jeffrey Field. 

• The most recent meeting came in 2024, where the Trojans defeated the Nittany Lions, 2-1, in Los Angeles. To date, that is the only Big Ten conference match in the series.  

• PSU and USC played a double overtime thriller in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The match officially went in the books as a 2-2 draw with the Blue & White advancing to the round of 16 on penalties, 5-3. 

• The last regular season win for Penn State came in September of 2005 with the Nittany Lions taking it by a 3-1 margin in Los Angeles.