Sept. 6, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 15th-ranked Nittany Lion women's soccer team used a first half goal from Aubrey Aden-Buie (Allentown, Pa.) to beat No. 17 Connecticut, 1-0, in Storrs on Thursday night in the NSCAA's first Women's College Match of the Week on Fox Soccer Channel. Penn State keeper Alyssa Naeher (Seymour, Conn.) looked outstanding in the victory, tallying six saves on the night including several pivotal stops.
Aden-Buie came through for the Nittany Lions late in the first half, breaking open the scoring with a long shot from the right side well outside the top corner of the box. Aden-Buie's strike curled into the upper left corner of the net past UConn keeper Stephanie Labbe for the unassisted goal and the 1-0 Penn State lead with less then eight minutes left in the first half.
The game remained a one-goal Penn State advantage going into the break despite a 7-3 shot advantage for the Huskies. For the game, Connecticut out-shot the Nittany Lions, 14-8.
UConn threatened in the 64th minute when junior forward Brittany Tegeler took a shot that preseason Soccer America All-American Naeher blocked away from the net. The rebound found the foot of Husky senior Karyn Riviere, who sent the ball streaking back towards Naeher, for her to make the diving save again. This time, the Nittany Lions were able to track down the rebound and clear the ball to the safety of the midfield.
Connecticut threatened again with less then 30 minutes to play, but Naeher came up huge one more time for the Nittany Lions. At 29:27, Tegeler sent a ball through to sophomore midfielder Annie Yi, who sent the quick redirect towards the Penn State goal. A dynamic save to her left side by Naeher preserved the Nittany Lions' lead again in what was an outstanding performance for the sophomore Connecticut-native in the net.
The intensity of the second half continued at the other end when Penn State forward Ashley Myers (Bel Air, Md.) got the ball at the top of the box and rocketed a shot off the crossbar in the 62nd minute, narrowly missing the Nittany Lions' second goal of the day.
The back-and-forth excitement was maintained throughout the final period, but Connecticut was unable to find the back of the net, giving the Nittany Lions' their first victory over a ranked team this year, and the first for new Penn State head coach Erica Walsh in her Happy Valley career.
Fifteenth-ranked Penn State travels to No. 23 West Virginia on Sunday, Sept. 9, for a 1 p.m. match. The Nittany Lions will try to avenge their loss to the Mountaineers from last season's game at Jeffrey Field. The match will be available via live stats on the Gametrack PSU page at GoPSUsports.com. A West Virginia audio broadcast will also be available via a link at GoPSUsports.com.
The Nittany Lions finally come home for this year's Jeffrey Field opener when they host the Penn State Invitational on Sept. 14 and 16. No. 3 Texas A&M meets No. 23 West Virginia at 5:30 p.m. on Friday to open Invitational action, while Penn State hosts James Madison at 7:30 p.m. The Nittany Lions then meet the fifth-ranked Aggies on Sunday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. for the lone match of the day. The contest will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network and is one of at least six national television appearances this year for Penn State.
--NITTANY LIONS--