PENN STATE IN THE POLLS/MAC HERMANN HISTORY NSCAA POLL HISTORY
The Nittany Lions made their first appearance in the National Soccer Coaches’ Association (NSCAA) poll on October 10, 1995, ranking 22nd in the nation. Since that year, the Lions found themselves ranked in the nation’s final Top 25 for 13 straight seasons (1995-2007), earning 11 Top-10 rating including nine seasons in a row from 1998-2006. In 2005, the Lions received their highest final ranking ever, finishing second nationally after tying eventual NCAA champion Portland, 0-0, in the College Cup semifinals.
PENN STATE WOMEN’S SOCCER AND THE MAC HERMANN TROPHY
In its first 25 years, the Penn State women’s soccer program has put its name on the collegiate soccer map and underlined it with the likes of great players such as Maya Hayes, Joanna Lohman, Christine Nairn, Raquel Rodriguez, Tiffany Weimer and Christie Welsh.
Prior to that, Penn State’s No. 4 final ranking in 1999 and 2002, the first two seasons the Nittany Lions advanced to the NCAA College Cup, had been the program’s best. In 2005, Penn State also received its first-ever No. 1 ranking when it took over the top spot on October 11 and held it for three weeks before tying host Michigan at the Big Ten Tournament and falling to No. 3 entering the NCAA Tournament.
All six were finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy, awarded to the top collegiate soccer player in the country, with Welsh becoming the first Lion to bring home the honor in 2001 and Rodriguez the second Nittany Lion to win the award in 2015. In 14 of the past 18 years, a Nittany Lion has either won the award, been named the runner-up or was a semifinalist for the award, an amazing accomplishment for such a young program.
In 2007, Penn State finished ranked No. 12 in the final NSCAA poll. 2008 was the first year since 1994 that the Lions didn’t find their names in the final poll. The Lions found themselves back on the final poll in 2009 (22) before dropping off again in 2010 and then making a run to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament in 2011, finishing eighth.
Six Nittany Lions have been finalists for the award, while 13 altogether have been on the watch list or among the semifinalists for the award. Penn State’s semifinalists have included Erin McLeod (2005), Ali Krieger (2006), Katie Schoepfer (2009), Maya Hayes (2012, 2013), Whitney Church (2014) and Kaleigh Riehl (2018).
The 2012 season proved to be PSU’s best season yet as the Lions reached the National Championship game for the first time in program history. Though they lost to North Carolina in the championship, they were just the second Big Ten team to reach the final (Wisconsin, 1991) and they finished the season ranked No. 2 nationally. A semifinal spot in 2014 yielded a No. 6 final season ranking. The Nittany Lions ended the 2015 campaign with the national title in hand and the No. 1 ranking. PSU FINAL RANKINGS YEAR RANK 1994 NR 1995 23 1996 10 1997 24 1998 7 1999 4 2000 6 2001 6 2002 4 2003 6 2004 9 2005 2 2006 7 2007 12 2008 RV 2009 22 2010 RV 2011 8 2012 2 2013 RV 2014 6 2015 1 2016 NR 2017 5 2018 14 2019 13
ALL-TIME PENN STATE MAC HERMANN TROPHY FINALISTS 2018
Kaleigh Riehl
2015
Raquel Rodriguez
2014
Whitney Church
Semifinalist
2013
Maya Hayes
Semifinalist
2012
Christine Nairn
Runner-Up
Maya Hayes
Semifinalist
2011
Maya Hayes
Runner-Up
2010
Christine Nairn
Semifinalist
2009
Katie Schoepfer
Semifinalist
2006
Ali Krieger
Semifinalist
2005
Tiffany Weimer
Runner-Up
Erin McLeod
Semifinalist
2004
Tiffany Weimer
Runner-Up
2003
Joanna Lohman
Runner-Up
Tiffany Weimer
Semifinalist
2002
Christie Welsh
Runner-Up
2001
Christie Welsh
2000
Christie Welsh
RANKING THE RANKS Top 5 6 6-10 9 11-15 3 16-25 3 19 Big Ten Championships 1998-2012, 2014-2016, 2018
Semifinalist Winner
Winner Runner-Up
2015 NCAA Champions
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