Blue White Illustrated

from his home in Connecticut. "I can still hear him reciting poetry in that un- mistakable Scottish brogue. Bill coached by example. Many days at practice, he would scrimmage with us, placing the ball perfectly on our head or foot to see what we could do with it. Then he would blow the whistle, stop the action and critique the situation. After practice, Bill would challenge us on the Rec Hall basketball court by tak- ing headers from the foul line. I can't help but feel how important these things were to all who were lucky enough to be mentored by Bill Jeffrey." In his 37-year Penn State career, which began in 1926, Jeffrey's teams won an impressive 74.2 percent of their games, going 153-24-29. Even more amazing is the Lions' 65-game unde- feated record between 1932 and 1941 in which Jeffrey's teams outscored their opponents 689-184. That's the type of domination that should make him a household name for Penn State sports fans of any genera- tion, just like football coach Joe Pater- no. As for his national titles, during Jef- frey's era there was no national tourna- ment as there is today. Collegiate soccer was like football in which mythical champions have been selected by the polls and more recently by the BCS. In soccer, there were no public polls, but the national champion was named by the Intercollegiate Soccer Football As- sociation of America (ISFA), an organi- zation started in 1926 by a group of 20 teams in the East. From that season un- til 1959 when the NCAA began holding its postseason tournament, the ISFA winner was regarded as the mythical national champion. I learned this from the late Mickey Cochrane 14 years ago when I was work- ing on the soccer exhibit for the Penn State All-Sports Museum. Mickey was then the historian for the National Soc- cer Coaches Association after a coach- ing career at John Hopkins and Bowling Green. Mickey also was a major source for the American Encyclopedia of Soc- cer, which was published in 1980 and is considered the definitive record on col- legiate and professional soccer. Mickey's insight is significant, be- cause in 2000 Penn State's official ath- letic records recognized only three teams as national champions: the 1949, '54 and '55 squads. Only recently did all the ISFA titles become part of the 11 now officially acknowledged by the ath- letic department. But you wouldn't even know that un- less you saw the obscure notations buried on page 28 of the 2014 Penn State Soccer Yearbook under "National Hon- ors." In his very first season as head coach, Jeffrey's team won a share of the na- tional championship along with Haver- ford and Princeton. For the record, the 1926 team went unbeaten in six colle- giate games, tied reigning three-time Canadian college champion Toronto, 2- 2 in double overtime, and lost, 3-1, to the amateur independent team repre- senting the Altoona (Railroad) Works for which Jeffrey had played in previous years. Jeffrey's teams followed by winning outright titles in 1929 and '38 and co- championships in '33 (with Penn), '36 (Syracuse, Princeton and West Chester), '37 (Princeton and Springfield), '39 (Princeton), '40 (Princeton) and '49 MEN'S SOCCER PSU ranked 15th in preseason poll Penn State was ranked 15th in the Na- tional Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason poll, the team's first appearance in the preseason rankings since 2011, when it entered the year ranked 18th. The Nittany Lions, who last year won their second consecutive league cham- pionship and reached the third round of the NCAA tournament, are the third-highest Big Ten team in the pre- season poll. NCAA finalist Maryland was voted second overall behind its former Atlantic Coast Conference foe Notre Dame, the defending champion. Michigan State was voted 10th. The Nittany Lions will face four op- ponents this season that were featured in the preseason poll. No. 13 Akron vis- its University Park on Nov. 5, while No. 21 Wisconsin will play at Jeffrey Field on Oct. 26 for Senior Day. In all, the Big Ten has four teams in the Top 25, which ranks only behind the ACC's five and is tied with the Pac-12 for second. Four more PSU opponents received votes: Indiana, St. John's, Michigan and Northwestern. Penn State's opener is set for Friday, Aug. 29 against Oakland. WOMEN'S SOCCER Lions are favorites to win Big Ten crown Penn State opened its season ranked 24th in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll and was also tabbed to win the Big Ten regular season title in a poll of league coaches released Aug. 13. Three players from each Big Ten team were named preseason players to watch, with senior Emily Hurd and juniors Mallory Weber and Raquel Ro- driguez representing Penn State. The Nittany Lions appeared in their 19th consecutive NCAA tournament in 2013, closing out the season with a 15- 7-1 overall record. The team returns eight of 11 starters this year, including NSCAA All-Great Lakes third-team honorees Weber and Rodriguez. When the national rankings were un- veiled on NSCAA TV, North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance took issue with the Nittany Lions' spot in the poll. "No way Penn State should be this low in the rankings," he said. "A wonderful coaching staff, excellent players. I can't believe they're going to stay just 24. I think they'll just continue climbing."

• Cover