Rolling off a dominant 4-0 victory over Maryland on Friday, Penn State women’s soccer rose two spots to No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches weekly poll.

The Nittany Lions are unbeaten through their first eight games, the first time the team has reached that feat since 2005.

Penn State in the polls presented by PSECU #WeAre pic.twitter.com/MfcjlBD8ty

— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) September 20, 2023

Penn State climbed from a preseason ranking of No. 10 to the No. 4 team in the country. North Carolina, the Nittany Lions’ season-opening opponent, leads the poll at No. 1, followed by Stanford and Florida State. Big Ten foes Northwestern and Michigan fell into the poll at No. 18 and No. 19, respectively, while Iowa received votes.

Two senior defenders on Erica Dambach’s squad received national and conference recognition after the group’s conference opener against the Terrapins. Eva Alonso was named to TopDrawerSoccer’s National Team of the Week, while Kate Wiesner earned the Big Ten’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week distinction.

The No. 4 Nittany Lions will return to action at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 21, in Piscataway against Rutgers.