Sept. 26, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Two Katie Schoepfer (Waterford, Conn.) goals propelled the Nittany Lion women's soccer to a dominating 5-0 shutout against Colgate in the final non-conference tune-up of the season. With the victory, Penn State takes a 6-2-1 record to the Big Ten opener on Sunday against Illinois, a televised match-up on the Big Ten Network live from Jeffrey Field.
"This was a professional performance for us tonight," said first-year head coach Erica Walsh. "There are always a lot of excuses with a mid-week game, but the group came out and took care of business. I am proud of the effort we put in tonight, and now we are ready for Illinois."
Penn State got on the board less then 10 minutes in when redshirt-sophomore Ashley Myers (Bel Air, Md.) lobbed one over Colgate goalie Carly Sousa's head. The gamewinner was the first of the year for Myers and the unassisted goal put the Nittany Lions up 1-0 and Penn State never looked back.
Senior tri-captain Aubrey Aden-Buie (Allentown, Pa.) scored her fifth goal of the season in the 31st minute when redshirt-junior Sheree Gray (Toms River, N.J.) found Carly Bedesem (Bensalem, Pa.) on the left side. Bedesem fed Aden-Buie and made it 2-0 going into half time and in the second stanza it was more of the same.
Penn State went up 3-0 in the 52nd minute when defender Maura Ryan (Doylestown, Pa.) found Schoepfer, who made the deposit into the left corner of the net.
Schoepfer struck again less then three minutes later when Myers assisted her goal inside the box. The conversion was Schoepfer's fifth on the year and her second of the day.
Freshman Danielle Toney's (Northville, Mich.) goal put the icing on the cake with under two minutes left. Toney's first career goal gave the Nittany Lions their second five-goal outing in three games, and their first winning decision by five or more goals since a 6-0 win over Bucknell in the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
Penn State dominated the offensive categories on the stat sheet. The Nittany Lions out-shot the Raiders 30-3, including a 14-1 edge in shots on goal. Despite Colgate playing with the balance of their field players on the defensive side of the field, Penn State still dominated the time of possession. The three Raider keepers accounted for nine saves, while freshman Alanna Pawlowski (Tucson, Ariz.) notched the lone save for the Nittany Lions in her 24 minutes between the posts.
Nine-time defending Big Ten champion Penn State kicks-off its conference season on Sunday, Sept. 30 vs. 2006 conference runner-up Illinois. The game begins at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network. The game will also be available via live stats by going to the Gametrack PSU page on GoPSUsports.com.