Aug. 11, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team opened up the 2012-13 Penn State Athletics campaign with a 3-1 victory over the Villanova Wildcats in an exhibition contest on Saturday night. The two squads played three periods, the first two for forty minutes and a final period of 30 minutes.
Penn State dominated play overall, recording 32 shots with 14 of them coming on goal. Villanova would go up first early in the second period, but the Nittany Lions would rally with three-straight goals to take control of the game. Senior Bri Garcia (Babylon, N.Y.), freshman Raquel Rodriguez Cedeño (San Jose, Costa Rica) and freshman Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) netted the three Penn State goals.
Penn State broke out with numerous opportunities early in the game. Rodriguez ripped a shot that went just high at the 30 minute mark. Later in the half, Rodriguez continued her strong play as she played a nice through-ball to junior Bri Hovington (Lothian, Md.). Hovington's shot went just high. Garcia, who was aggressive on the offensive end all night, struck a nice shot from 24 yards out that Villanova goalkeeper Kelsey Quinn made a great diving save on. Quinn was solid in the goal for the Wildcats, making 11 saves.
Villanova would strike first as Reanna Marino scored six minutes into the second period. Nearly two minutes later, the Nittany Lions had a tremendous opportunity, as Garcia had a shot blocked inside the 18. Despite the block, Garcia trapped the ball again to fire a shot on Quinn, who made an excellent save. Senior Maddy Evans (Glenside, Pa.) grabbed the rebound and was stopped by Quinn, who had made her seventh save at that point.
With 19 minutes to go in the second period, Garcia put the Nittany Lions on the board. Rodriguez, who had three points in the game, earned an assist on a ball that she played out to Garcia at the top right corner of the 18. The redshirt senior ripped it to the bottom left corner of the net to tie the game up at one.
From there, the Nittany Lions would control the game. Rodriguez scored with three minutes left in the period on a ball played by Weber that deflected off the goalies hands. Penn State had a 2-1 lead after the two 40-minute periods.
The Nittany Lions' third goal from Weber came four minutes into the third period. Senior Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.) played a beautiful ball through the middle of the 18 and found Weber wide open for an easy score.
Penn State opens its regular season schedule on Friday, Aug.17 when it travels to Virginia for a 7 p.m. contest. The Nittany Lions will return to Jeffrey Field on Aug. 19 as they host St. John's at 2:30 p.m. Defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Stanford comes to town on Aug. 24 for a 7:30 kick time, which will be aired live on the Big Ten Network.
Penn State head coaches Erica Walsh and Bob Warming and their teams will co-host an afternoon of soccer activities on Sunday afternoon at Jeffrey Field at 2 p.m. to officially kick off the 2012 season. Scheduled events, all of which are free to the public, include a youth clinic and an autograph session. Any kids in eighth grade or younger are invited to attend.
The clinic will be a formal and fun time for youths to meet the team and receive instruction from two of the foremost coaches in collegiate soccer and their staffs. Walsh, who has won a Big Ten title in each of her five years in Happy Valley, is assisted by Ann Cook (sixth year), Tim Wassell (third year) and Joel Bancroft (first). Warming, who is entering the 2012 season with 406 wins in his career, is assisted by second-year coaches Bo Oshoniyi and Chad Duernberger.
Parents bringing their children to the clinic are asked to contact the soccer team by emailing psusoccer@gmail.com to reserve a spot. Please include the child's name and age in the email. When attending the event, wear a uniform and bring a soccer ball.
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: @PennStateWSOC.
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