Penn State women’s soccer reveals 2024 schedule

Penn State women’s soccer has been one of the most dominant programs on campus since its inception in 1994. Coming off another great season in 2023 that featured an NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal appearance, the Nittany Lions will look to make another deep run in 2024.

On Tuesday, Penn State announced its full 19-match schedule for the upcoming 2024 season.

Penn State women’s soccer faces a tough 2024 schedule

As has been the case under head coach Erica Dambach for many years now, Penn State has another difficult schedule in 2024. It is part of why the Nittany Lions are always so prepared by the time the tournament rolls around in the late fall. Penn State will face 19 total opponents this year, including 11 conference foes.

Penn State women’s soccer will face 13 teams who reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago, four of which made a run to the Sweet 16.

After an exhibition versus St. John’s, the Nittany Lions will open the season with a home matchup against Texas Tech on Thursday, August 15, at Jeffrey Field. It is the start of a four-match home stand to open the season featuring Virginia, West Chester, and West Virginia.

The Nittany Lions then head on the road to face Saint Louis, a rematch of last season’s Sweet 16. A weekend matchup against Princeton and NCAA Tournament qualifier Georgetown rounds out the road stand. The last non-conference matchup will be a home game against Columbia on September 15.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞#WeAre pic.twitter.com/qCVDWLWPnJ

— Penn State Women’s Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) June 25, 2024

Difficult draws in conference play

The conference schedule will be just as strong as the non-conference, as Penn State women’s soccer draws Michigan State at home and Nebraska on the road. The Spartans and Cornhuskers were regular-season co-champions in 2023.

The main attraction of the regular season conference schedule will be a road trip to Los Angeles to take on UCLA on October 17 and USC on October 20.

Nittany Lions eye another postseason run

Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The Big Ten Tournament will begin on October 31 and ends with the Championship on Sunday, November 10.

The NCAA Tournament will open the weekend of November 15. If the Nittany Lions make the College Cup, it will occur in Cary, North Carolina, once again this season, with the semifinals on December 6 and the National Championship on December 9.

A program of dominance

Penn State women’s soccer will be looking to extend its momentum from 2023, a season in which it finished 16-3-4 and extended the nation’s second-longest active NCAA Tournament streak to 29 seasons. In addition to extending their NCAA Tournament streak to three decades, the Nittany Lions will also look to make it to their eighth consecutive Sweet 16 in 2024.

The program’s consistency has been there since its inception in the mid-1990s, and has continued to last season. Penn State women’s soccer won the NCAA National Championship in 2015, finished as National Runners-Up in 2012, and qualified for the College Cup five times (1999, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2015).

The Nittany Lions have won the Big Ten Regular Season Championship 20 times and the Big Ten Tournament title nine times. The 2024 Penn State roster will have to replace some key starters who are off to the NWSL, but if Erica Dambach has proven anything in her 17 seasons as head coach, it’s that the Nittany Lions just reload, not rebuild.

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