Penn State in the Final Polls/MAC Hermann History

UNITED SOCCER COACHES (NSCAA) POLL HISTORY

The Nittany Lions made their first appearance in the National Soccer Coaches’ Association (NSCAA) poll on October 10, 1995, with a No. 22 ranking in the nation. Since that first ranking, Penn State was a familiar listing in the nation’s final Top 25 for 13-straight seasons (1995-2007), earning 11 Top-10 ratings, including nine seasons in a row from 1998-2006. In 2005, the Nittany Lions received their highest final ranking ever, finishing second nationally after tying eventual NCAA champion Portland, 0-0, in the College Cup semifinals. 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. In 2007, Penn State finished with a No. 12 ranking in the final NSCAA poll. The Nittany Lions returned to the final rankings in 2009 (22), missed 2010's list and then in 2011, made a run to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament and earning a No. 8 final ranking. The Nittany Lions reached the National Championship game for the first time in program history in 2012. 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. Penn State claimed the 2015 National Championship and No. 1 ranking after a semifinal appearance and No. 6 final ranking in 2014.

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 2020 (21).......................11

RANKING THE RANKS

Top 5...............................7 6-10 ................................9 11-15 ..............................4 16-25 ..............................3

PENN STATE WOMEN’S SOCCER AND THE MAC HERMANN TROPHY

In its first 26 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.

All six were finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy, awarded to the top collegiate soccer player in the country, with Welsh becoming the first from Penn State recognized with the prestigious honor in 2001 and Rodriguez winning the award in 2015. Since 2000, 19 Nittany Lions have either won the award, were runners-up or were named a semifinalist. Nittany Lions have been named finalists for the award seven times and have been on the watch list or among the semifinalists for the award on 14 occasions. Penn State’s semifinalists have included Erin McLeod (2005), Ali Krieger (2006), Katie Schoepfer (2009), Maya Hayes (2012, 2013), Whitney Church (2014), Kaleigh Riehl (2018) and Ally Schlegel (2020-21).

ALL-TIME PENN STATE MAC HERMANN TROPHY FINALISTS

2020 (21) Ally Schlegel 2018 Kaleigh Riehl Semifinalist Semifinalist

2015 Raquel Rodriguez Winner

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 Winner

2000 Christie Welsh Runner-Up