Sept. 13, 2009
STORRS, Conn. -- The No. 24/23 Penn State women's soccer team broke a three-game losing streak and a 220-minute goalless drought with a 3-0 win over Boston University at Morrone Stadium. Danielle Toney (Northville, Mich.) scored twice and Alyssa Naeher (Seymour, Conn.) made five saves for the Nittany Lions at the UConn Soccer Classic.
Toney broke a scoreless tie and BU's momentum with a great shot on a one-on-one with BU's Annie Tooley (six saves). Toney slid the shot past Tooley after receiving a beautiful through ball from Nikki Watts (Hungerford, England). The goal came in the 29th minute.
The game went into the half at 1-0, but Penn State (3-4-0) wasted no time in attacking the Boston University (2-3-2) defense. Watts' shot off a Christine Nairn (Bowie, Md.) pass in the 46th minute was turned away by Tooley, but there to clean things up was Toney for a 2-0 lead just 90 seconds into the half.
Not two minutes later did the Nittany Lions strike again. Maddy Evans (Glenside, Pa.) took a Katie Schoepfer (Waterford, Conn.) pass at the top of the penalty area and put a right-footed shot into the upper right goal for her first collegiate goal.
After the back-to-back goals to open the half, play held steady as PSU tried to possess the ball and keep Boston University chasing. The Nittany Lions held the edge during much of the last 45 minutes of play.
The story early in the game was the play of Naeher, who stood tall in net for Penn State to keep the Terriers off the board. The senior All-American saw five consecutive shots in a five-minute span before Toney's tally, all of them turned into saves.
Penn State held the edge in shots, 20-8, while things were even on corners, 3-3. The Nittany Lions dominated the second half, out-shooting the Terriers, 13-2.
The multi-goal game was Toney's first since she tallied two in a 4-0 win over Monmouth in the NCAA First Round on Nov. 16, 2007. Penn State is now 17-2-1 all-time when Toney scores a goal. It was Toney's third game-winner of the season and 10th of her collegiate career.
The Nittany Lions get a full week of rest and return home to Jeffrey Field on September 20, where they will take on James Madison. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. in Happy Valley.
For complete coverage of all the Nittany Lion soccer this season, go to www.GoPSUsports.com/sports/w-soccer.
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--NITTANY LIONS--