UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — No. 11 Penn State women’s soccer hosts the 13th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday at 1 p.m. on Alumni Weekend. Juniors Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) and Taylor Schram (Canonsburg, Pa.) are making their return to Happy Valley after winning the U-20 World Cup with the U.S.A. last weekend in Japan.
Penn State will welcome back its women’s soccer alumni on Sunday. All the alums will be recognized at halftime and following the game, there will be a postgame autograph session that will feature former and current National Team members that wore the blue and white. Admission and parking for the game is free. Additionally, fans can watch the contest live on the Big Ten Network.
Last Saturday night, the BYU Cougars used two second half in a two-minute span to earn a 3-1 victory over the Penn State women’s soccer team on Saturday night at South Field. The Nittany Lions trailed 1-0 in the first half, but freshman Mallory Weber (Novi, Michigan) tied it up heading into halftime. However, the Cougars scored two quick goals in the second half to seal the victory.
Hayes and Schram return after them and Team USA earned an upset 1-0 victory over Germany to win the U-20 World Cup last Saturday. Hayes scored a total of four goals in this year’s World Cup. She had a three-goal effort against Ghana in early group play. With an additional goal against China, Hayes increased her international goal total to 16.
Former Nittany Lion and current Wisconsin assistant coach Carmelina Moscato will make her return to Penn State this weekend. Moscato joined another Penn Stater, Erin McLeod, on the Canadian Nation Team, who earned bronze medals as Canada defeated France by a score of 1-0 in Coventry, England on Aug. 9 in the Bronze Medal Match at the Olympic Games in London. McLeod and Moscato are the first Penn State soccer players to earn a medal at the Olympics in program history. The bronze medal for the Canadians was the first sport medal for Canada since 1936. The 29-year old McLeod started in goal for the Canadians while Moscato was a starting defender.
Wisconsin is coming off two-straight overtime victories over Illinois State and Milwaukee. After tallying the equalizer in the 77th against Milwaukee, the Badgers aggressiveness resulted in a corner kick in the 95th minute, with Joana Bielefeld heading in Kinley McNicoll’s corner for the game-winning score. Paige Adams leads the Badgers with 10 points on four goals and two assists. Laura Gunderson will start between the pipes, as she’s posted a 0.78 GAA this year in 573 minutes of action.
Penn State is a dominating 15-3-4 all-time against Wisconsin including an 8-2-1 mark in Happy Valley. Despite the great overall record, Wisconsin has had the better of it the last three years, going 2-0-1, snapping a 15-year winless streak with a 3-2 win at Jeffrey Field in 2009. Penn State lost to Wisconsin last year in Madison by a count of 1-0.
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