UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State women’s soccer is now amongst the Top 25 teams in three of four national polls this week. The Nittany Lions moved up to 21st in the SoccerTimes.com rankings, while earning 19th in TopDrawerSoccer.com’s poll and tied for 25th in Soccer America’s rankings. Penn State is the second team out of the NSCAA Top 25 tally this week.
Penn State (5-1-0) is currently riding a five-game winning streak, while outscoring its opponents, 18-1, during that time. The Lions moved up one spot in the SoccerTimes.com poll, which is the only one to disclose each voter and consists of 16 Division I head coaches including several national title winners.
The Nittany Lions moved up eight spots in TopDrawerSoccer.com’s Tournament 64 poll to 19th after a 27th place showing a week ago. The online soccer journal tabbed sophomore striker Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) its National Player of the Week after scoring five goals and 11 points en route to the Pitt Soccer Classic MVP crown. Hayes was also a repeat winner of the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week award, sharing it with Morgan Marlborough of Nebraska. Hayes also repeated as the SoccerSavings.com/Philly Soccer News Player of the Week.
National magazine, Soccer America, pegged Penn State 25th, along with Tennessee, in its ranking released late Monday night. It’s Penn State’s debut appearance in the Soccer America poll. The Nittany Lions earned 60 votes in the most recent NSCAA coaches’ poll, 27th most among all teams. It’s the highest PSU has been voted by the NSCAA since the preseason poll when the Nittany Lions were the first team out at No. 26.
Penn State faces a tall task this weekend against great competition in Central Florida (Friday, 4:30 p.m.) and Virginia (Sunday, 2 p.m.) at the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers are rated third (TopDrawerSoccer.com), fourth (SoccerTimes.com), seventh (NSCAA) and 10th (Soccer America) in this week’s rankings.
