Dec. 11, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

The 2009 Big Ten women's soccer season came to a close in the third round of the NCAA Championship for the second straight year. Wisconsin was the last Big Ten team standing, falling one game short of the NCAA Quartefinals in a narrow elimination loss to Boston College in the Round of 16. Penn State, the Big Ten's only seeded team in this year's tournament, suffered a loss in the second round of the national event, while Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue fell out of the bracket in the opening round. This season marked the eighth time in the 28-year history of the event that the Big Ten sent five or more teams to the NCAA Championship, including in six of the last eight seasons. Of those five teams, three were selected to host opening first and second-round competition. 

The Big Ten finished the 2009 campaign with four third-team NSCAA/adidas All-Americans in Penn State's Ayssa Naeher and Katie Schoepfer, Michigan State’s Laura Heyboer and Ohio State's Ashley Bowyer. The pair of Nittany Lion seniors were also honored as Big Ten Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year as Penn State swept the anual individual laurels for the second time in conference history.

Penn State resumed its reign atop the Big Ten regualr season standings, earning its record-tying 12th-consecutive conference championship with an 8-1-1 mark.  With its recent dominance in the sport, the perennial power became only the second Big Ten women’s program to achieve the 12-conscutive milestone, joining the Michigan swimming and diving teams (1987-1998) in conference annals. 

In the conference's first year without a posteason tournament, the Nittany Lions received the coveted automatic bid to the NCAA Championship by virtue of their regular season crown.  The berth marked the 15th straight NCAA Championship appearance for PSU, who was eventually eliminated by Virginia, 6-2, in the second round after opening tournament play in convincing fashion with a 5-0 rout of Colgate.

Wisconsin saw its NCAA Championship run come to an end with a 1-0 loss to second-seeded Boston College in third-round action. The Badgers completed their season with a 10-6-6 record and their best NCAA tournament finish in 16 years.