Aug. 29, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 9 Penn State women's soccer team lost its home opener, 4-1, to No. 5 Florida State in the first of two games Friday night at Jeffrey Field. Freshman Nikki Watts (Hungerford, England) scored Penn State's lone goal of the match. The Nittany Lions drop to 1-1 on the year while FSU raises its record to 2-0. In other Penn State Invitational action, Connecticut won game two of the night over Hofstra, 1-0.
Florida State wasted no time, scoring 2:02 into the game after redshirt-freshman forward Jessica Price deposited a Tiffany McCarty cross. The Seminoles added their second goal exactly one minute later with a partially deflected shot from sophomore midfielder Marissa Kazbour to make it 2-0.
FSU extended its lead to 3-0 when freshman forward McCarty got a goal herself. Freshman midfielder Tori Huster provided the pass that McCarty sent to the back of the net from point blank range.
Penn State came out strong in the second half, out-shooting the Seminoles, 16-4, in the final 45 minutes. The Nittany Lions forced FSU goalkeeper Kate Milstead to make seven saves on the night and also earned five corners, including four in the second half.
Penn State's attack finally found paydirt when, at the 77:39 mark, sophomore Danielle Toney (Northville, Mich.) served the ball from right to left for Watts, who scored the first goal of her Nittany Lion career. That made the score 3-1, Florida State, and despite a focused Penn State effort for the remainder of the game, the Nittany Lions would get no closer.
Florida State added one more goal to its tally when McCarty struck again, this time off a goal from sophomore midfielder Amanda DaCosta.
"Tonight it was too little, too late," said Penn State head coach Erica Walsh. "You can't let a team like Florida State go up three like that. On Sunday, we're looking to improve on our box play on both sides and improve our spirit in the first 60 minutes. As always, though, we're thankful that we've got Alyssa behind us."
The Penn State Invitational continues on Sunday when Connecticut and Florida State square off at noon followed by Penn State and Hofstra to finish the invitational at 2:30 p.m.
--NITTANY LIONS--