University Park, Pa. — The Penn State women’s soccer team earned its first national ranking of the 2010 season as the Nittany Lions were pegged 13th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) on Wednesday. No. 13 Penn State will face four opponents ranked in the preseason top 25 this season.
The Nittany Lions, who finished 22nd in the final 2009 NSCAA poll, are in search of their 13th straight Big Ten title and 16th straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010. Four Penn State opponents – No. 24 West Virginia, No. 17 Virginia, No. 5 Portland and No. 20 Wisconsin – are on the slate with two of those games coming at home.
Another five teams – Connecticut, Washington, Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue – received votes in the preseason poll. In all, the Big Ten had two representatives (Penn State and Wisconsin) in the top 25 with MSU, OSU and Purdue as the final Big Ten schools receiving votes.
North Carolina topped the poll as the defending champions, while 2009 runner-up Stanford is second. UCLA, Notre Dame and Portland round out the top five. Penn State ventures to Portland for a Sept. 12 match at Merlo Field.
Penn State travels to the 24th-ranked Mountaineers on Friday, Aug. 20 for a 7 p.m. showdown for the first of two straight top 25 clashes to start the season. The Nittany Lions being their home slate against No. 17 Virginia in Penn State’s attempt to shatter the single-game attendance record of 3,208 at Jeffrey Field. The goal is to see 4,500 fans attend the PSU-UVa game. Last season, the highly touted matchup saw 3,098 fans at Jeffrey, the second largest crowd in women’s soccer history at Penn State.
PSU opened training camp on Aug. 4 and will face off against Villanova in suburban Philadelphia this Saturday at 3 p.m. After the West Virginia match, Penn State will take part in an intra-squad Blue-White Scrimmage at Jeffrey Field on Sunday, Aug. 22 at 1 p.m. Afterwards, PSU women’s soccer will team up with men’s soccer for a free youth clinic and autograph session at Little Jeffrey Field