Oct. 26, 2012
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The fourth-ranked Penn State women's soccer team (16-2-1, 10-0-1) wrapped up its fifth ever unbeaten Big Ten season with a 2-0 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers on Friday night at the Boilermaker Soccer complex. Freshman Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) and senior Maddy Evans (Glenside, Pa.) each tallied a goal in the win.
The 15-time Big Ten champs outshot Purdue 16-14 in the victory. Senior goalkeeper Erin McNulty (Winnipeg, Manitoba) earned her 13th victory of the season and sixth shutout as she made seven saves between the pipes. Penn State has dominated the series with Purdue with a 12-1-1 overall record. PSU has won the past nine games by a combined score of 25-4 dating back to 2004.
Just 2:16 into the contest, Penn State got on the board as Weber netted her 11th goal of the season on an assist from redshirt sophomore Emily Hurd (Sammamish, Wash.). Weber's score came on a left-to-right cross from Hurd to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 advantage. The assist was Hurd's seventh of the season.
About 28 minutes later, Evans would tally her fourth goal of the season off a corner kick from freshman Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica). Rodriguez earned her eighth assist of the season and found Evans' head to give Penn State some cushion and pushing the lead to 2-0. Rodriguez finishes Big Ten play with seven assists in conference action, which leads the Big Ten.
The second half played more in Purdue's favor, as the Boilermakers recorded eight shots to Penn State's two. Additionally, Purdue established eight corner kicks in the second stanza while holding the Nittany Lions to none.
Penn State now awaits its first round opponent in the Big Ten Tournament, which starts next Wednesday. The bracket will be released tomorrow evening.
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