University Park, Pa. — Penn State women’s soccer standouts Emma Thomson (Nottinghamshire, England) and Hayley Brock (Acton, Mass.) each received Big Ten weekly honors for their play Sunday at No. 13 Illinois.
Thomson was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, her second such career honor, after directing a stout Penn State defense that held the 13th-ranked Illini to just two shots on goal. The junior co-captain spearheaded the defensive line that didn’t allow an Illinois shot on net until the 81st minute. Last year, Thomson earned the same award on Nov. 9, 2009 after leading the PSU defense to a 2-0 win over Michigan, holding the Wolverines to just three shots, none on goal. This is the second Defensive Player of the Week award for PSU this year as Krissy Tribbett (Centennial, Colo.) snared the award on Oct. 11.
Brock was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after her one-goal effort at Illinois. The fourth goal of the season for Brock, she padded a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute for Penn State, who went on to victory. Brock currently sits in third place on the team in goals (4) and points (10). Earlier this season Tani Costa (Honolulu, Hawaii) became Penn State’s first Freshman of the Week award winner on Oct. 11 for her performance at Iowa.
The Penn State triumph over Illinois was the fifth straight over the Illini and upped the Nittany Lions’ record to 19-2 all-time against Illinois. Penn State also moved to 5-2 in conference play with a 7-8-1 overall record with three games remaining.
The Nittany Lions welcome Indiana to Jeffrey Field on Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. match. The game will be broadcast live on BigTenNetwork.com and have live stats coverage through Gametracker. Additionally, Penn State will be celebrating Halloween early at the soccer stadium and invites fans to wear their best costumes to the field for a halftime celebration.