Sept. 5, 2010
STORRS, Conn. -- Penn State women's soccer (1-3-1) suffered its third loss in a row on Sunday in a 3-2 overtime defeat to Connecticut at Morrone Stadium. Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.) and Hayley Brock (Acton, Mass.) notched PSU's goals.
UConn (2-2-1) forward Jessica Shufelt scored her second straight overtime game-winner with her left foot in the 93rd minute to propel the Huskies to a 3-2 win. It was UConn's fifth overtime game this season.
Nairn struck for the second-fastest first goal in school history when she volleyed a world-class strike into the upper left corner of the net off a failed UConn clearance for the quick 1-0 lead just 63 seconds into the match. Nairn's first goal of the season was just seven seconds off the record set by Tiffany Weimer, who scored 56 seconds after the first whistle against Southern California on Sept. 11, 2006. Christie Welsh tallied a 74-second goal against Illinois on Oct. 6, 2000.
UConn wasted no time in its attempts to equalize, putting seven shots on net in response to Penn State's early goal. Three consecutive Husky chances were blocked by the Penn State defense in the fourth minute before Danielle Toney's (Northville, Mich.) counterattack chance skimmed off the crossbar, nearly doubling the lead.
UConn went back on the attack when Jessica Shufelt's chance from 10 yards out was saved by Penn State `keeper Krissy Tribbett (Centennial, Colo.) and Elise Fugowski's chance off the rebound sailed high. Less than 30 seconds later, Shufelt again was denied by Tribbett and Annie Yi's rebounded chance struck the crossbar, capping an exciting first 10 minutes of the match.
After a long stretch of a settled game, Connecticut finally put away a shot on goal when Devin Prendergast scored in the 37th minute on a bullet of a shot from 20 yards out into the top right corner of the net to tie things up at one apiece. For the first half, UConn held a 12-6 advantage in shots and 5-0 in corner kicks.
The Huskies came charging out of the gate to open the second stanza, but Tribbett's three consecutive stops in the first four minutes kept the game tied. Tribbett had five stops through the first 50 minutes and finished the game with that total.
In the 57th minute, Connecticut's Jessica Shufelt tallied her fourth goal of the season giving UConn its first lead of the game. She made a few dribbles about 20 yards out and ripped a left-footed shot to the near post past Tribbett.
Penn State used its freshman connection to equalize for the first time in 2010 when Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) collected a loose ball 35 yards from net and slotted a through ball to an on-running Brock who put home the game-tying goal from 12 yards out on the near side. It was Brock's second goal of the season and Hayes tallied her first point in college with the assist. The goal would send the game into overtime, but Penn State couldn't pull out the victory.
For the game, Connecticut out-shot PSU 25-13 overall. UConn also had an 8-4 edge in corner kicks on the day. The win was UConn's first against Penn State ever in the series. Penn State was riding an eight-game winning streak over the Huskies before Sunday as the series now stands 8-1-1 in favor of Penn State.
Penn State returns to action with a West Coast trip to the Nike Portland Invitational starting on Friday with a neutral-site matchup against Washington. Game time against the Huskies is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. The second game of the tournament sees the Nittany Lions take on No. 4 Portland on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
BOX SCORE
| Team | 1st | 2nd | OT1 | OT2 | Total | Record |
| Penn State | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | 2 | (1-3-1) |
| Connecticut | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 3 | (2-2-1) |
Scoring Summary
PSU (1:03) - Christine Nairn (1, unassisted)
CONN (36:18) - Devin Prendergast (1, unassisted)
CONN (56:37) - Jessica Shufelt (4, unassisted)
PSU (66:22) - Hayley Brock (2, Maya Hayes)
CONN (92:38) - Jessica Shufelt (5, Elise Fugowski)
Stat Summary
Shots: PSU 13, CONN 25
Corners: PSU 4, CONN 8
Saves: PSU 5, CONN 2
Fouls: PSU 7, CONN 9
Offsides: PSU 1, CONN 3
Booking Summary
None
For complete coverage of Penn State women's soccer, please visit http://www.GoPSUsports.com/sports/w-soccer.
Follow Penn State women's soccer on Twitter: @PSUWomensSoccer
Follow Penn State women's soccer on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PSUWomensSoccer
--NITTANY LIONS--