UNIVERSITY PARK – No. 14 Penn State women’s soccer returns to the pitch for its second fixture in a four-match homestand this Sunday, August 24, as the Nittany Lions play host to the West Virginia Mountaineers in a Noon (ET) kickoff. The match will air to a national television audience via the Big Ten Network, with streaming available to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via the FOX Sports App.

MATCH INFORMATION

RV WEST VIRGINIA AT #14 PENN STATE

Sunday, August 24, 2025 | Noon (ET)

Jeffrey Field | University Park, Pa.

Watch Live: BTN

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Parking: ParkWhiz

FAN INFORMATION, PARKING & PROMOTIONS

With the continuation of construction projects benefitting all 800-plus student-athletes at Penn State, notably the construction of the Jeffrey Field Soccer Performance Center at the south end of the facility, as well as West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium, elements of the Jeffrey Field match day experience have changed. Due to construction, the area behind the south goal will not be accessible to spectators. Spectator entrances are located on either end of Jeffrey Field near the corner flags on the east side of the facility. For more spectator information, as well as a diagram of the facility, click the link here to view the Jeffrey Field women’s soccer fan info guide.

Spectator parking is located in the Stadium West lot, with entrance to the lot located at the intersection of Park Avenue and Stadium West Drive. Additional parking is available in both the Porter North and Jordan East lots. ADA accessible parking is still available on either side of the facility. Spectators wishing to access the University Drive seating area should park in the Stadium West lot closest to the Bryce Jordan Center and walk down the sidewalk to the main entrance on the University Drive side of the facility. To prepay for parking at a discounted rate, click here. Event day parking will be $10 via ParkWhiz or the HONK app. Check in-lot signage for specific parking instructions or speak to a parking attendant upon arrival to the lot.

Sunday afternoon’s battle against the Mountaineers will serve as Penn State’s annual March to the Match, one of the most anticipated elements of Welcome Week on the PSU campus. The March to the Match will welcome incoming freshmen and returning Penn State students to join in the festivities alongside the Park Avenue Army, the official student section of PSU soccer, as groups march down Park Avenue ahead of Sunday’s contest. Groups are instructed to meet at the East Halls Quad at 10:30 a.m., with Park Avenue Army starting the march to Jeffrey Field at approximately 11:15 a.m. ahead of the Noon (ET) kickoff with West Virginia.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

For fans unable to attend Penn State’s rivalry battle with West Virginia in person, the contest will air live to a national television audience via the Big Ten Network, with streaming available via the FOX Sports App after signing in with a television subscription. Kylen Mills and Jackie Manny will call the action from Big Ten Conference studios in Chicago. The link to tune into Penn State’s first nationally televised match of the season from Jeffrey Field is available here. Live stats, provided by the Pennsylvania State University and StatBroadcast, are available at the link here. For more information on the Jeffrey Field match day experience, click the Jeffrey Field women’s soccer fan info guide link here.

KICKIN’ IT

The Nittany Lions return to work following a dominant 4-1 victory in its first match from Jeffrey Field in 2025, with PSU downing the No. 23 Saint Louis Billikens for the team’s first win of the year. Penn State saw three different student-athletes find the back of the net, with three additional players picking up assists in an all-around team effort from Happy Valley. The final stat sheet suggested a tighter contest than the final scoreline would suggest, with Penn State narrowly winning the margin on the shot chart by a 14-12 differential. In terms of on-target opportunities, the Blue & White outpaced the Billikens by a 10-8 margin and won the battle for saves by a slim 7-6 tally. Penn State surrendered the corner kick battle for the second consecutive outing, yielding a 6-1 victory in the statistic to Saint Louis.

Sophomore forward Aubrey Kulpa has stolen the show individually for the Blue & White through the first two matchups of the year, leading the team in points with six thanks to a trio of goals scored in just a pair of opportunities. Kulpa is tied with USC attacker Maribel Flores for the Big Ten lead in goals per match through this way-too-early point in the 2025 campaign, with both student-athletes averaging 1.50 goals per appearance with their respective programs. Kulpa’s trio of tallies are currently tied for the most in the B1G alongside Flores while standing as the 15th-most nationally through the first week of action. Redshirt senior midfielder Riley Gleason has been a revolution for the Nittany Lions in the center of their formation early on this season, with the Mission Viejo, California, native leading the team with a pair of assists. Her two helpers rank fourth in the Big Ten, while her 1.00 assists per match stand second in the league and 12th nationally.

THE EARLY OPPORTUNITIES

Penn State is off to a 1-1-0 overall start through the first two fixtures of the 2025 campaign, with the Nittany Lions facing off against a pair of nationally ranked United Soccer Coaches opponents in No. 4 Duke and No. 23 Saint Louis. In the most recent meeting against SLU, Penn State published an impressive 4-1 victory over the 23rd-ranked Billikens from Jeffrey Field on Thursday, August 21. PSU picked up its first win of the season in its first home opportunity, calling on a pair of tallies from sophomore forward Aubrey Kulpa as well as scores from graduate forward Kaitlyn MacBean and redshirt senior midfielder Julia Raich. A pair of Nittany Lions managed assists, while the goalkeeper tandem of Mackenzie Gress and Amanda Poorbaugh worked together to limit SLU to a single score with seven combined saves. In the 2025 season opener against eventual No. 1 Duke, the Nittany Lions managed to wield a 2-1 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Kulpa and freshman defender Hannah Jordan, but the Blue Devils were ultimately able to complete the comeback and publish a 3-2 result on August 14.

MEETING THE MOUNTAINEERS

Under the leadership of legendary head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown in her 30th season in Morgantown, the West Virginia Mountaineers enter Sunday’s rivalry showdown in Happy Valley managing a 1-1-0 overall record after dropping their opener last week to then-No. 15 Virginia by a 1-0 at home before thumping Akron by a 3-0 margin earlier this week from Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. Through the early going this season, WVU has called on a trio of goal scorers in Ava Arnold, Abbey Olexa and Taylor White each finding the back of the net so far in 2025. In the passing game, Olexa and White have each added assists, with Anna Hauer and Roxanne Vilain notching additional helpers. Between the pipes, the Mountaineers have mainly called on Mackenzie Smith, who owns 149 of the team’s 180 minutes played in goal, logging a save against a single goal allowed so far in 2025. In a preseason poll of Big 12 Conference coaches, WVU was tabbed to finish fourth in the 16-member league behind TCU, Texas Tech and BYU. Additionally, senior forward Ajanae Respass was selected to the preseason All-Big 12 Team.

STORY OF THE SERIES

The Nittany Lions and Mountaineers renew one of the longest-running and most intense rivalry series in women’s college soccer this Sunday afternoon, with the programs meeting for the 25th time in program history. Penn State boasts an impressive 14-7-3 lead in the all-time series which dates to the first meeting in the 2003 campaign. Penn State has been dominant in recent series history, winning each of the last five matchups while remaining unbeaten against the Mountaineers in each of the last eight fixtures. WVU’s last win over the Nittany Lions came on September 2, 2017, a defeat that PSU avenged later that season with a 3-1 NCAA Tournament Third Round victory to punch a ticket to the Elite Eight. Last season’s meeting in Happy Valley saw the Nittany Lions dominate the run of play while calling on a virtuosic performance from then-redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean, who tallied the 25th hat trick in school history en route to a 3-1 Penn State triumph. MacBean has scored at least one goal against WVU in the regular season in each of the last two years.