Penn State Nittany Lions women's soccer

Penn State Nittany Lions women's soccer
2024 Penn State Nittany Lions women's soccer team
Founded	1979; 45 years ago (1979) Varsity sport since 1994; 30 years ago (1994)[1]
University	Pennsylvania State University
Head coach	Erica Dambach (15th season)
Conference	Big Ten
Location	State College, Pennsylvania
Stadium	Jeffrey Field (Capacity: 5,000)
Nickname	Nittany Lions
Colors	Blue and white[2]
Home Away
NCAA Tournament championships
2015
NCAA Tournament runner-up
2012
NCAA Tournament College Cup
1999, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2015
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
NCAA Tournament appearances
1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Conference Tournament championships
1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2008, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022
Conference Regular Season championships
1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020

The Penn State Nittany Lions women's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team at Pennsylvania State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The Nittany Lions play at Jeffrey Field in State College, Pennsylvania on the campus of Pennsylvania State University.

The formation of a women's soccer program at Pennsylvania State University began with the creation of Penn State Women's Club Soccer in 1977 by the International Soccer Club at Pennsylvania State University. The team's creation was a response to women being excluded from playing on intramural soccer teams at the university. The club would go on to compete in international tours and gain national recognition all while competing without the support of the university. The club began petitioning Penn State Athletics for varsity status in 1980 citing a need for funding and status to continue its operation. After being denied varsity status by the university in 1980 and 1981 Penn State Women's Club Soccer filed a Title IX gender discrimination complaint with the Office of Civil Rights. The team would eventually join the Big Ten Conference and National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1994 when Penn State adopted a varsity women's soccer program under Big Ten direction.

The Nittany Lions have won 30 trophies: 1 NCAA Tournament championship, 9 Big Ten Tournament championships, 20 Big Ten regular season championships. The team has fielded two Hermann Trophy winners: Christie Welsh (2001) and Raquel Rodríguez (2015). The Nittany Lions notable alumnae include United States women's national soccer team players Alyssa Naeher, Ali Krieger and Allie Long who are FIFA Women's World Cup champions.