Sep 1, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team earned its second victory of the season with a 5-1 win over La Salle on Sunday afternoon at Jeffrey Field. Senior forward Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) netted two goals for the Nittany Lions while seniors Taylor Schram (Canonsburg, Pa.) and Tani Costa (Honolulu, Hawaii) and sophomore Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) posted one apiece.
The Blue and White improve to 2-1-1 while the Explorers drop to 2-1. Sunday's match was the first-ever between PSU and La Salle.
"Maya Hayes, in particular, came out today and her work was exceptional," said Nittany Lion head coach Erica Walsh. "Even when her finishing wasn't quite there she still worked and Raquel Rodriguez was the same way. I am much more encouraged after today, not just because of the score line but because of the way some of our leaders are stepping up now."
Hayes got things started for the Nittany Lions in the 34th minute, finding the ball after a free kick was deflected and drilling it into the back of the net to give Penn State a 1-0 advantage.
The Lions extended their lead to 2-0 just five minutes later as Rodriguez made a quick move around a La Salle defender and put one in from the edge of the box.
Penn State was able to hold off the Explorers for the remainder of the half, leaving the score at 2-0 at halftime.
The Nittany Lions maintained control starting off the second half with Hayes, Schram and Costa getting clean looks early on. La Salle keeper Katie Getzinger, however, was up to the task, stopping each of the attempts.
A goal by Kelsey Haycook got the Explorers on the board at the 58:48 mark. The junior knocked the ball into the net on a cross from teammate Maryam Huseini to bring the score to 2-1 in PSU's favor.
La Salle had another scoring opportunity in the 62nd minute as Jessika Kagan attempted to get by keeper Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.). The sophomore came up short as Eckerstrom made a nice save.
Costa gave the Lions their third goal of the game at the 70:31 mark. The forward got the ball from Hayes, who stole it from a defender, and fired it past Getzinger to give Penn State a 3-1 lead.
The Blue and White were awarded a corner kick just three minutes later and were able to capitalize as Hayes scored off a Kori Chapic (Novelty, Ohio) header from a Rodriguez cross, putting the score at 4-1.
Penn State capped the scoring in the 84th minute as Schram stole the ball and hammered it into the back of the net, bringing the score to 5-1.
"Today was a good step for us," said Walsh. "We've still got lot of steps to take but as long as we are moving forward we are going to be in a good place. La Salle's fight was incredible today and I was impressed with how the kept coming. They are a good team and they're going to win a lot of games this year."
The Nittany Lions will be back in action next Friday as they host Boston University. The match is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start at Jeffrey Field. Fans are reminded that there is a no bag policy in place on stadium grounds.