Thursday, September 20
Evanston, Ill.
7 p.m.
Northwestern
vs
#20 Penn State
Wildcats Welcome Nittany Lions for Top-25 Matchup
9/19/2018 10:24:00 AM | Women's Soccer
| 2018 NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S SOCCER | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME (CT) | LOCATION | WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS |
| Thursday, Sept. 20 | No. 20 Penn State | 7 p.m. | Evanston, Ill. | BTN | WNUR | Sidearm |
| Social: Twitter (@NUWSoccer) | Instagram (@NUWSoccer) | Facebook | ||||||
EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 21 Northwestern welcomes its first Big Ten opponent to Martin Stadium this week, facing off against No. 20 Penn State on Thursday.
The match will be televised, airing on BTN.
The Wildcats are 6-1-2 after the first weekend of Big Ten play, earning a 1-1 draw on the road against No. 22 Wisconsin before dropping their first game of the season against Minnesota, 2-0.
Against the Badgers, the Wildcats set the program record for longest scoreless streak at 668:42 minutes, having not conceded from the first half of the Miami (OH) match in the season opener to the second half in the eighth game of the season.
Northwestern is ranked first in the Big Ten in goals-against-average (.422) and shutouts (6). First year goalkeeper Mackenzie Wood's save percentage of .857 is the best mark in the conference as well.
Senior Brenna Lovera leads the offense this season with four goals and two assists. She now owns the most game-winning goals in program history with ten, and her 15 career goals are two off the top-ten list in program history as well.
Senior Marisa Viggiano, who was named to the Mac Hermann Trophy Watch List in the preseason, recorded her 16th career assist against Wisconsin. That moved her into a tie for third place in the career assist leaders at NU with Sam Greene (2007-10).
The Wildcat offense has also featured 14 different players on the scoresheet this season. Viggiano became the eighth player this season to assist a goal, while senior Michele Chernesky became the seventh player to score one. Only Lovera has at least one of each, and first year Julietta Thron and senior Nikia Smith both have two assists.
Northwestern trails Penn State in the all-time series and has three wins, the last coming in the Big Ten semifinal in 2014, a match that Smith started in. The two teams met twice last year, including a match in the Big Ten Championship. Northwestern scored first with a goal from Nia Harris, but the match was halted due to inclement weather. It was later resumed indoors, and the Nittany Lions roared back with two late goals to take the title.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
No. 20 Penn State
The Nittany Lions are 5-3 in an uneven start to the season after being ranked No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll. The team has suffered defeats to UCLA, Virginia and Wake Forest, a team the Wildcats defeated 2-0 in the second weekend of the season. Penn State has a quality win over West Virginia, and routed Ohio State 4-0 in its lone Big Ten matchup so far.
The Lions have an explosive offense averaging a conference-best 2.5 goals per game, led by Kerry Abello who has four goals and four assists. Kristin Schnurr, Frankie Tagliaferri and Emily Ogle all have three goals each.
Goalkeeper Amanda Dennis has played the lion's share of the minute for the team, allowing five goals in eight starts and posting an .821 save percentage. As a team, PSU's goals-against-average of .625 is the second best mark in the conference behind Northwestern's.
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Players Mentioned
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