Sept. 23, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
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Penn State's women's soccer team avenged its 2006 NCAA quarterfinal loss at the hands of Notre Dame with a 2-1 victory Sunday in South Bend, Ind. The win was the first for the 17th-ranked Nittany Lions in the all-time series with the No. 21 Fighting Irish. With five out of its first eight games vs. ranked teams, Penn State is now 5-2-1 overall, including road wins over two ranked teams this year and a tie vs. No. 5 Texas A&M at home. Notre Dame falls to 3-4-1 on the year.
The boxscore read that redshirt-sophomore Ashley Myers (Bel Air, Md.) and sophomore transfer Melissa Hayes (Cave Creek, Ariz.) both scored in the Nittany Lions' road win over No. 21 Notre Dame, but what'll be missing is a huge assist again for sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher (Seymour, Conn.). With eight saves in the nationally televised contest, Naeher came up big again for the Nittany Lions, allowing just one goal while weathering 24 shots by the Irish.
"Alyssa Naeher was the difference in the result today," said Nittany Lion head coach Erica Walsh after the match. "We battled to get back into the game and once we had the two goals, Alyssa was the difference in holding on to that."
The first half went Notre Dame's way with a goal for Kerri Hanks in the 21st minute with the assist to Amanda Cinalli. Hanks took the Cinalli pass and placed it far post into the right side of the goal to give the Fighting Irish the 1-0 advantage at the break. Elise Weber was also credited with an assist on the play.
As they have in the past few contests, Penn State posted a big second half, however. Sophomore Katie Schoepfer (Waterford, Conn.) scored a point in her fourth straight contest when she found Myers with the helper on her game-tying goal in the 55th minute. Myers booted the left-footed strike from 25-yards out, tucking it inside the near right post to make the score 1-1. M.A.C. Hermann Trophy candidate Sheree Gray (Toms River, N.J.) was also credited with an assist on the play.
In the 58th minute, Notre Dame goalkeeper Lauren Karas fouled Schoepfer in the box to set-up what would be the game-winning penalty kick for Penn State. Hayes stepped up and converted her first goal as a Nittany Lion, and it was a big one, giving Penn State its second road win over a ranked team this year and first ever over Notre Dame in their three-game series. For Hayes, the goal capped-off a five-point week for the midfielder, after tallying three assists vs. Bucknell on Wednesday.
Penn State hosts a pair of games this week, including its 2007 Big Ten opener. Colgate comes to Happy Valley first on Wednesday, Sept. 26, as part of a men's/women's doubleheader. The women's game begins at 5 p.m. with the men's game vs. Penn starting immediately following. On Sunday, the nine-time defending Big Ten champion Nittany Lions start their title defense with a 3 p.m. match vs. 2006 runner-up Illinois. The battle between Penn State and the Fighting Illini will be televised live on the Big Ten Network, marking PSU's fourth of at least six appearances on national television this year.
--NITTANY LIONS--