Aug. 21, 2011
SARATOGA, Calif. - Penn State women's soccer notched a resounding 4-0 win on Sunday against Nevada at West Valley College. Kori Chapic (Novelty, Ohio) opened the scoring midway through the first half before Emily Hurd (Sammamish, Wash.) doubled the lead.
PSU (1-1-0) showed no ill effects of Friday night's loss at No. 2 Stanford, pushing play from beginning to end, opening a 2-0 halftime lead behind the strength of Chapic's and Hurd's goals. The freshman duo lifted the Nittany Lions early and led Penn State to the easy victory.
Chapic nearly scored in the 4th minute off a crossing attempt but Nevada `keeper Jenna Riddle was there for the save (seven saves). Nevada had its lone first-half shot just a few minutes later when Danielle Green's free kick from 40 yards out was easily saved by Erin McNulty (Winnipeg, Manitoba).
From there it was all PSU, who possessed the ball all over the field and tallied 15 shots in the opening stanza. Chapic had a header off a corner kick swing high in the 13th minute before Taylor Schram (Canonsburg, Pa.) had a close-range effort knocked away by Riddle.
It wasn't until the 23rd minute that PSU would score when Jess Rosenbluth's (Gladwyne, Pa.) sweeping corner kick found the head of Chapic who punched it in from five yards out for a 1-0 lead. The corner kick was one of seven Penn State earned in the first half.
Seven minutes later, Hurd took an early ball from Bri Garcia (Babylon, N.Y.) down the left wing and sent in a long shot from 40 yards out that went over Riddle's head and into the right-side netting, a beautiful arching attempt for a two-goal margin. Penn State would continue to press to the end of the half with some dazzling displays of possession, but Riddle was up to the task, saving another pair of shots.
In the second, PSU came out lethargic, but snapped out its offensive issues in the 64th minute when Schram slotted home her first of the season off a through ball from Hurd on the left wing for a 3-0 lead.
The next shot for Penn State also went in as Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) crossed a defender 10 yards from net and scored her first marker of the year in the 69th minute. Rosenbluth set up the goal with a beautiful pass through traffic into the box.
From there, the Nittany Lions would empty the bench and cruise to victory. PSU out-shot the Wolf Pack (0-2-0) 26-4 with a decided 11-3 edge in shots on goal. The Nittany Lions also earned nine corners to Nevada's one. Fouls were 4-1 with PSU taking the brunt of the aggressiveness, while Nevada was whistled four times for offsides. The game marked the first time Penn State and Nevada met in women's soccer.
Penn State returns home next weekend on Friday for a matchup against No. 15 West Virginia. The Mountaineers visit Jeffrey Field for a 7:30 p.m. home-opening match. Prior to the PSU-WVU game is Richmond and George Mason at 5:00 p.m. to open the Penn State Invitational.
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--NITTANY LIONS--