Sept. 17, 2011
MADISON, Wis. - No. 21 Penn State women's soccer dropped its Big Ten opener, 1-0, at Wisconsin on Saturday at the McClimon Sports Complex. UW's Laurie Nosbusch scored a 17th minute goal in a very physical game that had six yellow cards and 38 fouls between the two teams, 27 on Wisconsin alone.
In an even opening 45 minutes, Penn State (6-3-0, 0-1-0 Big Ten) was unlucky to be trailing. Shots were equal at five apiece for the two teams, but Nosbusch poked home a short shot off a throw in to put the Badgers ahead in the 18th minute.
In the 43rd minute, a long range effort from Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.) after a Monica Lam-Feist yellow card caught the wood work, saving Wisconsin (6-3-0, 1-0-0) from an equalizer.
The second half was all Penn State, but the tough play by the Badgers would tell the story. After 15 fouls in the opening half, Wisconsin poured on the tough challenges, resulting in frustration for the Nittany Lions. After two PSU cards in the 60th minute, Wisconsin was booked three times in an 11-minute span from the 63rd to the 74th minutes.
During that span, the Nittany Lions put seven shots together, including four on net that reached UW `keeper Michele Dalton (seven saves). One such chance to score came in the 75th when Nairn's shot was pushed away by Dalton resulting in the corner kick, but Penn State couldn't muster anything else in the closing minutes.
Nairn and senior midfielder Jess Rosenbluth (Gladwyne, Pa.) each registered three shots in the game to pace the Nittany Lion offense, which was shutout for the first time since Aug. 19 at Stanford.
The Badgers won just their third game against Penn State in the all-time series as the Lions lead 15-3-4. Shots were 12-6 in favor of Penn State, including a 7-2 edge in shots on goal. The final foul count was Wisconsin 27, PSU 11 with four yellows on the Badgers and two on PSU.
The Nittany Lions return to Pennsylvania to close their six-game road swing at Bucknell on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. to close out the non-conference season.
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--NITTANY LIONS--