Aug 25, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 4 Penn State women's soccer team posted its first win of the 2013 campaign with a 2-1 victory over Hofstra on Sunday in the Penn State Invitational. Senior forward Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) and sophomore forward Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) led the way for the Nittany Lions with both netting goals in the first half of the contest.
"The first 30 minutes were quite good," said Nittany Lion head coach Erica Walsh. "I thought we looked sharp, our passing was sharp and we had some great chances. Obviously we put a few away and I thought we were off to the races."
After tying West Virginia, 2-2, in the season opener on Friday, Penn State (1-0-1) was determined to post a win against the Pride. Hayes took the initiative, sending the ball in to the back of the net in the 11th minute on a low cross from Emily Carrollo (Sussex, N.J.), to give PSU an early 1-0 lead.
Weber extended the Lions' lead to 2-0 in the 19th minute, stealing the ball off a goal kick and putting it into the top of the net.
"In any game, any sport you want to come out quickly," said Walsh. "It has been a bit of an issue for us over the past years so it is something we have been focusing on and I think it's paid off."
Senior Tani Costa (Honolulu, Hawaii) put one in the net in the 27th minute but it was called back after an offsides call was made by the officials.
Ruby Staplehurst, Leah Galton and Amber Stobbs got clean looks for Hofstra in the first half but were unable to capitalize as keeper Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.) put up three nice saves to leave the Pride scoreless in the first half.
Hofstra didn't waste any time in the second half as Galton netted an unassisted goal from 12 yards out in the 51st minute to bring the Pride within one.
"Credit to Hofstra," said Walsh. "They came after us, and they continued to come after us. They found energy that we weren't able to find."
Hayes got a great look right in front of the net in the 57th minute mark but was thwarted by keeper Emily Morphitis who made a good save to keep the score at 2-1.
The Pride registered three more shots on goal in the second half but could not get by Eckerstrom, who totaled six saves in the match.
"I thought Britt, overall this weekend, was top notch," said Walsh. "Friday night was a big challenge for her and she had two game-winning saves. Then today there were seven corner kicks in the second half and she was a rock."
The Nittany Lions travel to No. 8 Virginia next Friday for their first road match of the season. The contest is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start.