Penn State wins record 9th Big Ten Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sixth-seeded Penn State earned its record-setting ninth Big Ten Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament title and fourth in the past eight years on Sunday with a 3-2 victory over No. 1 seed (and conference champion) Michigan State in the championship match at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio. With Sunday’s win, Penn State will be the Big Ten Conference’s automatic qualifier into the 2022 NCAA Championship.

This was the second highest scoring Big Ten Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament championship match and highest since 1999, when Michigan defeated Penn State, 4-2, in Bloomington, Ind.

Penn State (13-4-3) was making its conference-record 13th appearance in the Big Ten final in the tournament’s 27-year history, improving to 9-3-1 all-time in the championship match. The Nittany Lions are also the fifth program seeded sixth or lower to capture the Big Ten Tournament title and the first since Minnesota won the 2018 crown on penalties over Penn State in Westfield, Ind.

Redshirt senior forward Ally Schlegel was named the Offensive Player of the Big Ten Tournament after scoring twice in Sunday’s championship match, including the winning goal with 8:07 remaining. Sophomore defender Mieke Schiemann added a pair of assists for the Nittany Lions, while redshirt senior goalkeeper Katherine Asman recorded two saves (giving her 14 stops for the tournament) to claim Defensive Player of the Tournament honors.

Michigan State (16-2-3) grabbed the early lead on an own goal in the fifth minute before Penn State’s Kaitlyn MacBean tied matters with a goal in the 38^th minute. Schlegel then put PSU ahead for the first time in the 54^th minute, slotting home a pass from Payton Linnehan.

Ring ring ?@allyschlegel34 dials in a goal!

PSU takes the lead, 2-1 over the Spartans ?#WeAre pic.twitter.com/lBy6lxki0e

— Penn State Women’s Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) November 6, 2022

Lauren DeBeau countered with a sensational unassisted goal in the 75^th minute to draw MSU even at 2-2 and set the stage for Schlegel’s late heroics.

???@allyschlegel34 #WeAre pic.twitter.com/6J4NvO96wr

— Penn State Women’s Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) November 6, 2022

Michigan State finished with an 11-9 edge in total shots, while Penn State posted a slim 4-3 advantage in shots on goal and an equally thin margin on corner kicks (7-6).

Despite its only loss in 13 regular season and tournament matches against Big Ten opponents this season, Michigan State is expected to not only earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but to be a strong contender for one of the top 16 national seeds for the event.

The announcement of the 64-team field for the 2022 NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament will be made at 4 p.m. (ET) Monday live on NCAA.com.

2022 Big Ten Women’s Soccer All-Tournament Team
Lauren DeBeau, Michigan State
Justina Gaynor, Michigan State
Gabbie Cesarone, Minnesota
Eleanor Dale, Nebraska
Rowan Lapi, Northwestern
Sydney Jones, Ohio State
Katherine Asman, Penn State
Cori Dyke, Penn State
Ally Schlegel, Penn State
Becci Fluchel, Rutgers
Aidan McConnell, Wisconsin

Individual Awards
Offensive Player of the Tournament: Ally Schlegel, Penn State
Defensive Player of the Tournament: Katherine Asman, Penn State