Park Ridge, Ill. — The 13th-ranked Penn State women’s soccer team earned another preseason accolade on Tuesday as the Big Ten’s coaches selected the Nittany Lions as the favorite in the conference this season. Penn State is looking for its 13th straight Big Ten title. Ohio State and Wisconsin round out the top three.
"We have a lot of work to do if we hope to reach our potential this season," said 2009 Big Ten Coach of the Year Erica Walsh. "The Big Ten is a great conference that is only getting better in each passing year and every match is a battle. We’re expecting the race for the championship to be tighter than ever this fall."
Penn State returns 17 letterwinners and six starters from last season’s 13-6-2 team. The key returning starters as selected by the Big Ten coaches are senior forward Danielle Toney (Northville, Mich.), sophomore midfielder Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.) and sophomore defender Lexi Marton (Aurora, Ontario). Toney and Nairn were second and third, respectively, on the team last year in scoring. Marton was a steady force in the defensive line as a freshman starter in 2009. All three earned All-Big Ten accolades.
Behind Ohio State and Wisconsin are Michigan State and Purdue, which accounts for the five NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago. Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan went sixth through eighth, while Indiana, Northwestern and Iowa round out the bottom three.
If Penn State wins the Big Ten this season, the Nittany Lions will break the Big Ten record for consecutive championships won by a women’s program. Currently tied with Michigan swimming & diving (1990s) and the current Northwestern tennis team, PSU can be the first to capture No. 13 in 2010.
The Nittany Lions face a tough non-conference schedule to begin the season starting with a road match at No. 24 West Virginia on Friday. The game at Dick Dlesk Stadium in Morgantown, W. Va. will take place at 7:00 p.m. and will be covered live by GoPSUsports.com through the team blog and Twitter (@PSUWomensSoccer).
