Penn State women’s soccer stars Kerry Abello, Sam Coffey, and Frankie Tagliaferri will serve as the Nittany Lions’ captains this fall, the team announced Tuesday.

The three rising seniors will take on the roles left by Kaleigh Riehl, Amanda Dennis, and Ellie Jean, who served as captains in 2019.

“These three embody our team pillars and are outstanding representatives [of] our program,” head coach Erica Dambach said. “I believe each one of these student-athletes brings their own unique leadership ability to our program and will continue to push our team forward. All three student-athletes have shown continual hard work and dedication as both leaders in the classroom and on the soccer field. Kerry, Sam and Frankie will do a phenomenal job as captains of our program!”

Abello appeared in 24 games last fall and ranked third on the team with eight goals. She earned herself first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-North Region honors with several impressive performances.

Coffey was one of the best players in the Big Ten during the 2019 campaign. Her 32 points ranked second in the Big Ten, just one behind fellow Nittany Lion Ally Schlegel. Coffey appeared in all 25 games and earned herself first-team All-Big Ten and first-team All-North Region honors.

Tagliaferri, on the other hand, was successful at setting her teammates up for goal opportunities this past season. She was tied for second in the Big Ten with 10 assists, trailing Michigan’s Sarah Stratigakis by two. Tagliaferri tied a Big Ten record with four assists in a game against Michigan State early on during the 2019 season.

Men’s and women’s soccer student-athletes began returning to campus earlier this summer to prepare for the upcoming season. To date, neither team has finalized their schedules, which will solely consist of Big Ten opponents.