After four years of coming up empty-handed, the women's club soccer team feels it is their year to win the national championship.

"We have the best chance to win because we work the hardest," sophomore Michelle Cowley said. "Everyone gets along really well and doesn't want to let anyone down. They aren't just playing for themselves, they are playing for each other."

The team will travel to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa to compete in the National Intramural Recreation Sports Association (NIRSA) national championships, which takes place Thursday through Saturday.

The women's club soccer team went 9-2-2 this season to earn a return trip to nationals. It defeated Michigan, the defending champions, 1-0 in the semi-final game of the conference championship. Penn State defeated Miami (OH) 2-0 in the conference championship game to advance to the national tournament.

"We started off slow, but we came back and defeated Miami (OH) for the conference championship after losing to them early in the season and we defeated the defending champs (Michigan) which were big wins for us," first-year coach Ziggy Korytoski said. "We are definitely peaking at the right time."

The NIRSA championship tournament consists of four pools of four teams. Each team will play the three teams in its respective pool and the top two teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinals. The games are single-elimination in the remaining rounds. Penn State will face Texas A&M, Illinois and Arizona in the first round of the tournament.

Several players have contributed to the team's success. Junior Kara Hartman leads the team in scoring with five goals and three assists.

"She (Hartman) is phenomenal," Korytoski said. "She has done everything I've asked of her and is a very creative player."

Defense was a strong point for the team. It only allowed six goals all season and held most teams to limited shots. Cowley provided much of the consistency for the defense.

"Michelle is the spark and fire that keeps this team going. Just her presence is big lift," Korytoski said.

The club level athletics not only provides students a chance to continue to play soccer on the college level, but the players agree the friendships are the best part of playing.

"Not only do you take away skills such as learning how to run a club, run a team and other things that will be helpful in real life, but the relationships are everything," senior and club president Tara Sisti said. "They are my friends for life."