Four Penn State women’s soccer student-athletes received recognition on TopDrawerSoccer’s annual preseason Top 100 players to watch list.

Senior Sam Coffey leads the way for the Nittany Lions at No. 2 on the list. The midfielder was also added to the MAC Hermann Trophy preseason watchlist. With this high of a ranking, Erica Dambach may have a true Player of the Year contender on her roster.

Only Florida State’s Jaelin Howell, who enters the season at the top spot overall, gained more recognition than Coffey.

4⃣ Nittany Lions (@sscofff, @AbelloKerry, @CoriDyke, @allyschlegel34) have been named to the @TopDrawerSoccer Preseason Top 100 List including Sammy C at #2. #WeAre pic.twitter.com/tEo8M1NQ3N

— Penn State Women’s Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) February 4, 2021

The other Penn Staters named to the preseason list were Kerry Abello (No. 43), Cori Dyke (No. 75), and Ally Schlegel (No. 79).

Abello, a senior, will be a key member of the Nittany Lions’ starting roster this year. A true utility player, Abello can play nearly any position on the field for Penn State, which will be even more important this season due to the uncertainty presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Dyke enters her sophomore year with high praise from TopDrawerSoccer pundits. Dyke was the only freshman to start all 25 matches for Penn State in the 2019 season, getting one assist.

The Littleton, Colorado native is the third highest-rated sophomore in the Big Ten behind Michigan’s Sarah Stratigakis (No. 17) and Amirah Ali (No. 59) of Rutgers.

Dyke is joined by fellow Colorado-born Nittany Lion Ally Schlegel. Schlegel, a redshirt sophomore, checks in at No. 79 due to her impressive 2019 campaign. As a striker, she scored 13 goals and bagged seven assists in 25 appearances, 24 of which were starts.

Schlegel was the other Nittany Lion besides Coffey to land on the MAC Hermann Trophy watchlist.

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