Sept. 18, 2008
HARRISONBURG, Va. - In front of a crowd of over 1,800 on a clear night the No. 17 Nittany Lions dropped a 1-0 decision to the Dukes of James Madison. Penn State now falls to 5-3 on the season while James Madison improves to 3-2-2.
James Madison controlled much of the first half getting off seven shots to Penn State's one. There was physical and aggressive play from both sides of the ball, but the Dukes had the better of the play largely because of their speed. The Nittany Lions worked the ball up the field from the outsides as opposed to the middle by JMU and succeeded in putting some pressure on the Dukes' net. Junior forward Katie Schoepfer (Waterford, Conn.) was the go-to for many shot opportunities, but the JMU defense often surrounded her in three-on-one situations.
The only goal of the game came off a corner kick at 21:06. JMU midfielder Teresa Rynier sent a high ball close to the Penn State goal as Teri Maykoski leapt to send a header above Alyssa Naeher (Seymour, Conn.) into the upper left corner of the net.
JMU kept up the pressure into the second half, but Penn State responded with a more aggressive offense to keep net minder Diane Wszalek on her toes. The teams exchanged control for the remainder of the half each contributing their share of shots on goal. In the final minute of play with the Nittany Lions on attack, Danielle Toney sent the ball to a wide open Schoepfer who connected on a bounce and sent the ball sailing over the crossbar.
Penn State will return to Jeffrey Field Sunday, Sept. 21 to battle No. 1, Notre Dame, at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.