UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State women’s soccer head coach Erica Dambach announced the final roster addition ahead of the program’s 32nd varsity campaign on Monday, with the Nittany Lions set to welcome Danish midfielder Dikte Bang into the fold ahead of the 2025 season.

“We are thrilled to round out our 2025 roster with the addition of Dikte Bang,” Dambach said. “When looking to make one final addition to our team ahead of the new season, we were impressed by Dikte’s wealth of experience playing in Denmark. She will have an exciting opportunity this year to learn and grow in the college game alongside some of the strongest and most tactically skilled midfielders in the nation, and I am confident that she will be a positive addition to that group going forward. We’re thrilled to see what perspective she will bring to the game, and how she will help our program continue pushing towards our goals in 2025.”

A native of Odense, Denmark, Bang arrives in Happy Valley as a prominent prospect, both at the Danish club and Women’s Youth National Team levels. Playing for Odense Boldklub in the Kvindeliga, the top-flight league for women’s soccer in Denmark, Bang was a valuable contributor over the course of the 2024-25 season, appearing in 24 matches with 21 starts to her credit a year ago. She tallied 1,749 minutes on the pitch and provided her side with five goals while pushing Odense BK to a fifth-place finish in the league. Bang played in 81 percent of Odense BK’s minutes in her age 19 season, bringing a wealth of on-field experience to University Park ahead of her rookie year with the Blue & White.

“Playing soccer at Penn State will allow me to compete at a high level while growing both as an athlete, and as a person,” Bang expressed. “I am excited about the opportunity to learn from experienced coaches while being part of a competitive and motivated team. Being a part of the Penn State women’s soccer program is an honor, and I am ready to give my best, both on and off the field.”

Over the past few years, Bang has been an exciting prospect within the Danish Football Association’s Women’s Youth National Team system. She has participated with the National Team within multiple age demographics, appearing in 15 combined international competitions while participating in development camps with the U16, U17, U19 and U23 teams. Bang participated in five matches with the U16 National Team, nine contests with six starts to her credit at the U19 level and has already started in her first match with the U23 Women’s Youth National Team earlier in the 2025 campaign.

Last season, the Nittany Lions advanced to the National Quarterfinals for the second year in a row, extended the nation’s longest streak of consecutive Sweet 16 appearances to eight-straight, secured the program’s 30th consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and booked the program’s 31st consecutive season with at least 10 victories, the second-longest stretch of that nature in women’s college soccer. The Blue & White return six starters from last year’s Elite Eight run, including goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress, defenders Kayleigh Herr and Bella Ayscue, midfielder Molly Martin, and forwards Kaitlyn MacBean and Amelia White. MacBean, a native of Excelsior, Minnesota, is PSU’s lone returning United Soccer Coaches All-American, coming off the most prolific scoring season by a Nittany Lion in over a decade following a 34-point season comprised of 16 goals and two assists. Penn State additionally boasts the nation’s fifth-ranked recruiting class and strongest signing group in the Big Ten Conference per TopDrawerSoccer’s July release. PSU will open its 2025 season in less than two weeks’ time, with a 7 p.m. (ET) kickoff scheduled against the Duke Blue Devils on Thursday, August 14, from Koskinen Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.