Aug 28, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The ninth-ranked Penn State women's soccer team (1-0-1) travels to No. 5 Virginia on Friday for its first road match of the 2013 campaign. Kick time is slated for 5:30 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium and fans can follow all of the action on GameTracker. The Lions return home on Sunday for a 1 p.m. match-up against La Salle at Jeffrey Field.
PSU is coming off a successful weekend as it tied with West Virginia and defeated Hofstra in the Penn State Invitational. The Blue and White opened the season in front of a crowd of 3,742 fans, the third most in program history, as they rallied from a 0-2 deficit to draw with the Mountaineers in a double overtime thriller on Friday.
Two days later, the Lions took down the Hofstra Pride, 2-1. They opened up the game with two goals in the first half as senior Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) sent on into the back of the net in the 11th minute and sophomore Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) followed with another goal 19 minutes into the contest. PSU goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.) had a great showing, putting up six saves to secure the victory for the Nittany Lions.
Hayes leads Penn State in goals after netting two over the weekend. She has also registered one assist for a team-best five points. Senior Taylor Schram (Canonsburg, Pa.) and Weber have posted goals for the Lions as well.
Friday's match will be a homecoming of sorts for graduate student transfer Emily Corrollo (Sussex, N.J.), who joined the Penn State squad this year after playing three seasons at Virginia. Carrollo started 35 of 62 games as a defender/forward during her career with the Cavaliers.
Virginia enters the weekend with a 2-0 record after defeating Virginia Commonwealth, 4-2, and Santa Clara, 4-0, last weekend. Sophomore Brittany Ratcliffe leads the Cavaliers in goals this season with three while Morgan Brian, Danielle Colaprico, Makenzy Doniak, Molly Menchel and Emily Sonnett have posted one goal apiece. Brian, a junior, leads the team in assists, tallying three.
The Blue and White are 7-2-1 against UVA all-time in one of the most intense rivalries in women's college soccer. This will be the fourth trip to Charlottesville Penn State has made in an 11-match series that dates back to 1997. Last season, the No. 9 Nittany Lions upset the No. 7 Cavaliers, 3-1, on two goals from Weber and one from senior Tani Costa (Honolulu, Hawaii).
La Salle opens the weekend at 2-0 this season with wins over Old Dominion, 1-0, and James Madison, 2-1. Junior Kelsey Haycook leads the Explorers with two goals and one assist while senior Renee Washington has netted one goal and redshirt junior Anna Dolhansky has tallied two assists.
Sunday's contest will be the first-ever match-up between Penn State and La Salle. The Nittany Lions are 11-0-0 against current Atlantic 10 opponents, most recently defeating Richmond, 3-0, on Aug. 28, 2011.
Parking and admission are free for all Penn State women's soccer home matches. Fans are reminded that there is a no bag policy in place on stadium grounds.