Sept. 20, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Penn State women's soccer made quick work of Bucknell in a 4-0 thrashing at Emmitt Field on Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions used goals scored by four different players and eight Lions tallied a point on the evening.
"We created a lot of really good opportunities and it's all about putting the ball in the back of the net." Head coach Erica Walsh said after the match. "We were able to play a lot of new faces and our starters capitalized on some shots for our lead."
The Nittany Lions (7-3-0) used a long free kick by Bri Hovington (Lothian, Md.) from 50 yards out as it skipped to Taylor Schram (Canonsburg, Pa.), who headed home the service for her fourth goal of the season just 4:33 into the game. Penn State drew a foul by Bucknell's Meghan Fitzpatrick on Hovington near the midfield line to set up the free kick, which bounced over the head of Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) to Schram. The helper was Hovington's first of the season and second of her collegiate career.
PSU created multiple opportunities that required saves by Bucknell's Sandita McDermott (six saves). In the first half, Penn State out-shot Bucknell 19-1 with a 10-1 advantage in corners, but McDermott's play kept PSU at bay in the middle portion of the opening half.
Penn State's hard work paid off as a foul by Kayla Yee on Emma Thomson (Nottinghamshire, England) set up a free kick from 20 yards out in the 33rd minute. Thomson played a short ball to Nairn who right-footed a blast inside the near post past an out-stretched McDermott for a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute. The tally was Nairn's first of the season and Thomson's first assist of 2011.
Following a flurry of substitutions by both sides, Emily Hurd (Sammamish, Wash.) received a bouncing cross by Meghan Gill (State College, Pa.), turned her defender on the left wing and blasted a shot to the far post from 15 yards out for a commanding 3-0 lead in the 43rd minute. The marker was Hurd's second of the season, while Gill, a redshirt-senior, recorded her first point since 2008 when she earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors.
Penn State came out firing in the second half as a cross from the left wing by Jess Rosenbluth (Gladwyne, Pa.) found a rushing Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) who tapped home her nation- and Big Ten-leading 13th goal of the season 3:39 into the half. Hayes matched Michigan State's Laura Heyboer atop the scoring lists, while Rosenbluth tallied her sixth assist of the year. All 26 Penn State goals have had assists this year with PSU tallying 34 in 2011.
Hayes nearly made it 5-0 as a through ball gave her a breakaway in the 54th minute. Her 14th goal would have to wait as she shot it right at reserve Bucknell goalie Golleen Garrehy (two saves) and the game eventually ended 4-0.
Two Nittany Lions made their Penn State debut as Mandy Metzger (Milton, Pa.) and Erin Kehoe (Crystal, Ill.) were second-half substitutions. Goalkeepers Erin McNulty (Winnipeg, Manitoba), Krissy Tribbett (Centennial, Colo.) and Kristin Hartmann (Katy, Texas) combined for PSU's fifth shutout.
PSU held major statistical leads in shots (25-4), shots on goal (13-0) and corner kicks (16-6), while Bucknell had nine saves in the match. The Lions were just three corner kicks off their record 19 set in 2001 at Purdue.
Penn State moved to 15-0-1 all-time against Bucknell including a 4-0-1 record in Lewisburg. The Nittany Lions also extended their 14-year unbeaten streak against Pennsylvania teams, improving to 32-2-1 vs. Keystone State teams. PSU ended its non-conference slate at 7-2-0, the best showing since 2005 when the team went a perfect 9-0-0.
The Nittany Lions return to Jeffrey Field for the first time in nearly a month when they host Northwestern at 7:00 p.m. for the Big Ten home opener. The game will be carried live on GoPSUSports.com All-Access with live stats through GameTracker.
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--NITTANY LIONS--