In the annual banquet at Ohio Stadium, on the eve of the Big Ten tournament, forward Tiffany Weimer of the Penn State women's soccer team was named the conference's Offensive Player of the Year.
Junior defender Natalie Jacobs won the Defensive Player of the Year award and the mastermind of the team, head coach Paula Wilkins, was dubbed Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year.
Weimer and Jacobs are the leaders on the No. 3 Nittany Lions this year, though their roles are polar opposites. Weimer's job is to score goals, and she's done that better than anyone in the nation with 23.
She led not only the Big Ten in goals this regular season, but the whole country.
Weimer also leads the Big Ten in shots (104) and points (56), and is second in assists(10). Her 56 points are more than 20 points better than the next in the category.
"It's actually really huge for me" said Weimer, who was also named as one of the 15 finalists for the Hermann Trophy this week.
"I've always been in the shadow of Joanna [Lohman] and Heidi [Drummond] so to be the top goal scorer in the conference it's really big for me."
Jacobs anchors a defense that keeps balls away from goalkeeper Erin McLeod like they're carrying the plague.
As a defense the Lions have only given up five goals in 19 games and are currently in the midst of a 10-game shutout streak.
Opponents average fewer than seven shots per game.
Though Jacobs leads all Penn State defenders with two assists, it's her in-your-face, aggressive style of defense that won her the award she considers "unexpected."
"We definitely have the best defense in the Big Ten," Jacobs said. "I wish I could put all the defense's names on it but this just shows how good we've been."
For Wilkins, who now has a career record of 76-12-6 at Penn State, she says her award is a credit to the team she coaches.
"It's really nice to get recognized by your peers," Wilkins said. "It's really a sign of my team. They listen to what I tell them and I'm proud that I can represent them with this award."
Weimer and Jacobs were joined by Ali Krieger and McLeod on the First Team All-Big Ten, and Amanda Lentz and Denay Riley were named to the Second Team. Krieger, who was last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year, is fourth on the team with 10 points (four goals, two assists).
McLeod leads all Div. I goalkeepers with a goals against average of .188. The junior has nine shutouts this season and has only given up three goals in 17 games. Currently she has not given up a goal in 944:57.
Lentz is tied for second on the team with five goals and Riley, who was also named to the All-Rookie team, has been a solid addition to the defense in her first year.
"The look on their faces said it all when their names were called," Weimer said of her teammates on the all-conference teams. "They all got what they deserved."
