No. 8 Women’s Soccer Continues Road Stretch at Princeton – Penn State

KICKIN’ IT

In one of the most anticipated matches of the 2024 season, then-No. 12 Penn State jumped ahead early and never looked back, as a brace from redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean powered the Nittany Lions to a 2-1 victory in their road opener over then-No. 19 Saint Louis. The box score told the tale of a hyper-competitive, nationally ranked non-conference clash, with the home squad narrowly edging the visiting Blue & White in total shot attempts by a 16-15 margin. In terms of shots on target, however, Penn State dominated the stat sheet with a doubling of SLU’s chances, winning the battle 8-4 overall. Saint Louis took the corner kick contest by a 9-4 margin, marking just the second loss for Penn State in the corner competition in 2024.

Following her first career hat trick, as well as a week of performances that saw her score all five Nittany Lion goals in a two-match span, MacBean was named both the TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Week and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week following announcements from both organizations on Tuesday, September 3. MacBean currently stands as the national scoring leader across all NCAA Division I programs with 16 points on eight goals through five matches played. Senior midfielder Jordan Fusco has additionally established herself as one of the best facilitators in the midfield across all of college soccer through this point in the season, with the veteran athlete ranking tied for first in the Big Ten Conference and second nationally in assists per match with 1.00. Fusco leads the B1G in total assists with five, also ranking sixth nationally in the category behind five student-athletes tied with six apiece.

BALLIN’ LIKE BEANY

Through her first five matches of the 2024 campaign, redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean has broken out as a star on the national stage. The Excelsior, Minnesota, native leads NCAA Division I in multiple statistical categories, including total goals with eight on the year, total points with 16, goals per match with 1.60, and match-winning goals with three. With her scores against Saint Louis last weekend, MacBean took sole ownership of the No. 3 spot in the Nittany Lion record book for consecutive matches with a goal, finding the back of the net in each of her last eight appearances. She was recognized as the TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Week for the second time in her collegiate career and picked up B1G Offensive Player of the Week laurels for the first time…