Sept. 7, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Highlighted by another All-American performance from goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher (Seymour, Conn.), the No. 10 Nittany Lion women's soccer team (4-1) held off a feisty Bucknell squad (2-2-1) Sunday evening at Jeffrey Field to grab a 4-2 victory. Penn State's tremendous trio of All-American Katie Schoepfer (Waterford, Conn.), sophomore Dani Toney (Northville, Mich.) and newcomer Nikki Watts (Hungerford, England) produced most of the offense again for the Nittany Lions, with at least one of the three in on each goal against Bucknell.
Toney wasted no time Sunday, scoring 1:46 into the match off a Schoepfer assist from mid-field. The rest of the opening half, the action see-sawed back-and-forth with the Nittany Lions getting the better of Bucknell in the shot column, 9-5, by halftime.
Bucknell quickly tied it up in the second half when Christa Matlack scored on an unassisted goal at 45:56. The goal came on a breakaway and there was nothing Penn State keeper Naeher could do when Matlack chipped the ball in over her head.
Schoepfer struck for Penn State in the 59th minute when Watts found the junior striker for her third goal of the year. Schoepfer returned the favor less then a minute later with a through ball that had Watts' name written all over it. Watts buried the pass for her team-leading fourth goal of the year.
Bucknell wasn't done yet, however, and scored off another breakaway in the 67th minute. Jennifer Devarics took a pass from Sadie Canter to bring the Bison within one again, 3-2.
From there, Naeher continued to keep the Nittany Lions clear from danger under heavy fire, including a dangerous flurry with less then five minutes remaining. A rebound from a Daverics' shot ricocheted off the post and found its way to Bucknell's Canter, who fired a shot that only a diving Naeher could snuff out. All told, Naeher made seven stops on the day, many in dramatic fashion to preserve the PSU victory.
The icing on the cake came from senior midfielder Zoe Bouchelle (Cockeysville, Md.), who went straight up the gut and put the game out of reach with her goal at 87:51. Toney assisted on the final goal of the day, giving her here goals and five assists on the year for a team-leading 11 points. Only she has scored at least one point in each of the Nittany Lions' matches this season. Sunday's match marked the second time this year she not only scored a goal, but also added an assist.
The Nittany Lions travel to Storrs, Conn. this coming weekend for the UCONN Classic. Penn State meets Brown on Friday evening, Sept. 12, at 5 p.m. before taking on host and 19th-ranked Connecticut on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 2:30 p.m. The longest road stretch of Penn State's season continues when the Nittany Lions travel to Harrisonburg, Va. for a Fox Soccer Channel match-up on Thursday, Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. In back-to-back national TV appearances, Penn State finally returns home to host No. 5 Notre Dame on Sunday, Sept. 21 for a 1 p.m. match on the Big Ten Network.
--NITTANY LIONS--