It was a bit of a rough week for Penn State soccer, as both the women and men fell in the United Soccer Coaches poll.

Following a loss in the Big Ten opener to then-No. 16 Rutgers, Penn State women’s soccer fell four spots to No. 12. The Scarlet Knights leapfrogged Penn State to No. 9 after a late penalty from Becci Fluchel downed the Nittany Lions.

Following a losing start to conference play, Penn State will host a pair of Big Ten matches this week. The Nittany Lions will host Northwestern on Thursday, before Ohio State comes to town on Sunday. Erica Dambach’s side is supposed to win both, and six points could plausibly see the Nittany Lions back into the top 10.

Currently, the only other Big Ten team ranked besides Rutgers and Penn State is No. 18 Michigan. The Nittany Lions don’t face the Wolverines until Thursday, October 21 in Ann Arbor.

Meanwhile, at the top of the rankings there was finally some movement. Florida State remains the top dog, although former No. 4 Duke and former No. 2 UNC swapped places after the Blue Devils defeated the Tar Heels 1-0 on Friday. UCLA remains the No. 3 team in the country, while LSU moved up to No. 5 in the nation.

On the men’s side, a win and a loss saw Jeff Cook’s side drop further in the “receiving votes” category. Following a close loss to Pitt and a come-from-behind win against Northwestern to open the Big Ten slate, the Nittany Lions now only have nine votes to their name, good for No. 38 in the nation.

About the Author

Otis Lyons

Otis is a sophomore majoring in print journalism and is one of Onward State's associate editors. He lives just north of San Francisco, and is a diehard San Jose Earthquakes fan. Feel free to send over your soccer hot takes to his twitter @otisnlyons1 and instagram @otislyons

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