Sept. 23, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 11 Penn State women's soccer team (8-2-0, 3-0-0) used four goals from four different players to earn a convincing 4-0 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini on Sunday afternoon. The Nittany Lions dominated all facets of the game, scoring three goals in the first half and outshooting the Illini, 25-19.
Junior Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) led the way for the Nittany Lions, putting together three points on a goal and assist. Redshirt Tani Costa (Honolulu, Hawaii), freshman Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) and sophomore Kori Chapic (Novelty, Ohio) added the additional Penn State goals. Senior Erin McNulty (Winnipeg, Manitoba) earned the start in goal and made four saves. Costa's goal tied for the quickest one in school history. Tiffany Weimer scored 56 seconds in also against USC in 2006.
As it has all season, Penn State got off to a very good start as Costa gave the Nittany Lions a 1-0 advantage. Hayes received a ball down the left sideline and delivered a low cross to Costa. The redshirt junior put it in the lower right corner of the net to give Penn State the 1-0 lead. The goal for Costa was her fourth of the season, tying her for third on the team.
Weber's and Hayes would score in a bunch nearly 17 minutes later to put Penn State up 3-0. In between Costa and Weber's goal, Illinois put two shots on net and Hayes struck the post 12:26. However, Weber came through with 27 minutes remaining in the first half, as she beat a defender one-on-one on the right side of the box and struck it near post.
Hayes' goal came just 59 seconds later to give the Nittany Lions a 3-0 lead. She received a long ball from the defensive third of the field and beat the goalie on a breakaway. The junior's goal was her fourth in three games and her third of the weekend after scoring two at Northwestern this past Friday. Freshman Corey Persson (Danvers, Mass.) earned the assist on the goal.
Chapic's goal came off a corner kick in the second half to give the Lions a 4-0 lead. Freshman Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) took the corner and found Chapic for the one-timer, as she netted her first goal of the 2012 campaign.
Penn State will look for its fourth-straight win as it travels to Ohio State this Thursday for an 8 p.m. match with the Buckeyes. The contest will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network. The Nittany Lions return to Jeffrey Field on Sunday at noon against Minnesota.
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