Penn State Wins Big Ten Women’s Soccer Tournament Championship
Nittany Lions rally to earn seventh conference postseason crown, first since 2015
WESTFIELD, Ind. – Haleigh Echard’s goal with 11:42 remaining gave fifth-seeded Penn State a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over No. 2 seed Northwestern in the Big Ten Women’s Soccer Tournament championship match on Sunday afternoon at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana.
The Nittany Lions earned their seventh Big Ten Tournament title, and first since 2015, while also securing the Big Ten’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Northwestern had taken a 1-0 lead on Nia Harris’ goal with 7:32 left in the first half, at which point the match was halted due to severe weather.
Following a delay of more than two hours, the match resumed indoors at the Grand Park Events Center. The Wildcats maintained their lead past the midpoint of the second half until Penn State equalized on Laura Freigang’s goal with 19:28 left in regulation, setting up Echard’s championship-winning score.
The announcement of the 64-team field for the 2017 NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament will be made at 4:30 p.m. (ET) Monday live on NCAA.com.
2017 Big Ten Women’s Soccer All-Tournament Team
Corey Burns, Iowa
Megan Koenig, Minnesota
Michele Chernesky, Northwestern
Marisa Viggiano, Northwestern
Devon Kerr, Ohio State
Laura Freigang, Penn State
Emily Ogle, Penn State
Kaleigh Riehl, Penn State
Sarah Griffith, Purdue
Casey Murphy, Rutgers
Lauren Rice, Wisconsin
Individual Awards
Offensive Player of the Tournament: Laura Freigang, Penn State
Defensive Player of the Tournament: Kaleigh Riehl, Penn State