In January, a record five Penn State women’s soccer players were drafted into the National Women’s Soccer League, and each one of them made the final rosters for the 2024 season, which kicked off this month.
Defender Kate Wiesner was the first Penn State player chosen, being drafted in the first round to Washington Spirit as the seventh overall pick.
Forward Payton Linnehan was next, going 11th overall to the Portland Thorns, and she was followed by defender Ellie Wheeler, a second-round pick by Kansas City. Midfielder and second team All-American Cori Dyke went to Orlando Pride and goalkeeper Katherine Asman to the Portland Thorns.
Dyke’s selection marked the Nittany Lions record for players selected in a single draft at four, and Asman’s selection tied the program with BYU for the second-most players selected in the 2024 draft. Penn State was the only Big Ten program to have more than one selection.
As the NWSL season kicked off on Saturday, March 16, all five of the Penn State alumni made it onto the opening-day rosters, and all five had signed contracts with their teams after preseason training camps.
With the addition of the five newest Nittany Lions, the NWSL now has an impressive total of 18 former PSU players currently in the league.
Portland has the most, with four Penn Staters including Sam Coffey, Marissa Shiva, Linnehan and Asman.
The Chicago Red Stars have three in captain Alyssa Naeher, Penelope Hocking and Ally Schlegel, and the Kansas City Current also has three in Elizabeth Ball, Mallory Weber and Ellie Wheeler.
Orlando Pride has Kerry Abello and Dyke while the Utah Royals, in their inaugural season, will feature Kaleigh Riehl and Frankie Tagliaferri.
In addition, 2015 MAC Hermann Trophy winner Raquel Rodriguez will play for Angel City, Ellie Jean will line up with Racing Louisville, Morgan Messner starts with San Diego and Wiesner will begin her career with Washington spirit.
The league began with Portland visiting Kansas City at CPKC Stadium, which is the first venue in the United States purposely built to house women’s professional sports.
And if the Penn State program losing five professional-level players seems worrisome, it may help that Penn State just announced that it signed the nationally fifth-ranked recruiting class.
The program signed nine players, including four defenders, three forwards, a midfielder and a goalkeeper.
The Lions also announced that three transfers will join the Lions for the 2024 season.
The transfers are two-time All-Ivy League defender Ginger Fontenot from Penn, Jordan Fusco, midfielder from Tennessee and Kayleigh Herr, defender from North Carolina.
The 2023 Penn State team finished with a 15-2-4 record overall and a 6-1-3 record in the Big Ten. The team is scheduled to begin play in August of 2024.
