Nov. 8, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 1 seed Penn State (16-3-1) took the first step to defending its Big Ten Tournament title with a 3-1 opening round win over No. 8 seed Iowa (8-8-4). The sixth-ranked Nittany Lions will face No. 5 seed Ohio State (12-8-0) in the semifinal round at 6 p.m. ET on Friday.
Penn State dominated from the opening whistle and put its first goal of the game up on a pretty exchange between first team All-Big Ten selection Katie Schoepfer (Waterford, Conn.) and second team pick Aubrey Aden-Buie (Allentown, Pa.). Penn State played the ball through the midfield and Schoepfer saw an opening for Aden-Buie, who cut back towards the middle of the field once she took the pass. Aden-Buie made a move that fooled Hawkeye goalkeeper Kali Feiereisel and gave her a great look at the goal. She netted the goal, her 10th of the season, in the 23rd minute of the game to make it 1-0 Penn State.
The game went into the second half still a one-goal lead for the Nittany Lions, but it wasn't that way for long once the teams took the field again. A little over three minutes into the second half, Schoepfer got a goal of her own on a pass from freshman Danielle Toney (Northville, Mich.) to make it 2-0 PSU. The gamewinner was her team-leading sixth on the year.
Iowa brought the game to within a goal again when Keli McLaughlin scored her first goal of the season off an assist from Kelsie Full. The 2-1 score didn't last long, however, and less then four minutes later Penn State's Big Ten all-freshman team member Toney scored a rebound header off her own shot to bring the score to the final 3-1 Penn State victory.
"A lot of people stepped up and played well for us today," said Penn State head coach Erica Walsh after the game. "It was great to see some of our younger players like Bianca D'Agostino, Jess Hermann, Danielle Toney and Megan Monroig stepped up and helped us win the game. It took 19 players to get the win over Iowa today."
Penn State out-shot the Hawkeyes 16-9 in the game. The win brings the Nittany Lions to 9-2-3 all-time in Big Ten quarterfinal match-ups.
No. 6 PSU will play Ohio State in the 6 p.m. ET semifinal Friday, which will be aired on a taped-delay basis on the Big Ten Network early Saturday morning at 1 a.m. ET and then again on Sunday, Nov. 11, at 8 a.m. ET. The second semifinal game will broadcast on Saturday at 3 a.m. ET and then again at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday. The Big Ten championship game will be aired live on Sunday, Nov. 11, on the Big Ten Network at 2 p.m. ET and on a taped-delayed basis at 6 p.m. ET on CSTV.
--NITTANY LIONS--