Oct. 7, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The fourth-ranked Penn State women's soccer team (12-2-0, 6-0-0) used three goals in a six-minute span to secure a 5-2 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday afternoon at Jeffrey Field. With the game tied at two, freshman Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) scored two goals in two minutes to put the Nittany Lions ahead for good. Senior Maddy Evans (Glenside, Pa.) added a late goal to give Penn State a 5-2 win.
Senior Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.) had a big game for the Nittany Lions as she put Penn State up 1-0 just five minutes into the game with her 11th goal on the season on a crossing assist from redshirt sophomore Emily Hurd (Sammamish, Wash.). Nairn was not done on the day, as she additionally assisted on both of Weber's goals giving her a four-point game.
Despite Indiana scoring less than a minute later on Orianica Velasquez's goal, the Nittany Lions answered right back as junior Taylor Schram (Canonsburg, Pa.) netted her first goal of the season in her third game back from an injury and U-20 World Cup play. Schram scored on a beautiful ball played to her in front of the net from the corner from Hurd, who was credited with her second assist of the day. Schram's goal gave Penn State a 2-1 advantage heading into halftime.
Penn State would control the majority of the second half, putting a total of 17 shots on goal for the contest and coming across many opportunities. Indiana was held to just nine total shots in the game, including four of them on net. Despite the low shot total, Indiana tied the game up at two in the 60th minute on Lisa Nouanesengsy's seventh goal of the season.
It would take the Nittany Lions twelve minutes to recapture the lead for good. Weber's first goal in the 72nd minute came on a thru ball from Nairn that ended up near the end line. Weber took a touch in and found the far post netting to put Penn State up 3-2. Her second goal was somewhat similar as Nairn played another thru ball ahead and tapped it in for her eighth goal of the season.
The Nittany Lions were not finished though. The Big Ten's leader in assists, freshman Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) earned an assist on a corner kick as she found Evans near the penalty kick mark. The senior captain buried it past Indiana's keeper Sarah Stone to give Penn State the 5-2 lead.
With the victory, Penn State improves to 89-3-3 all-time in Big Ten games at Jeffrey Field.
Penn State returns to action on Friday as it travels to Nebraska for an 8 p.m. matchup with the Huskers.
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