Sep 2, 2013
By Matt Allibone, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Coming off a disappointing loss at Virginia on Friday night, Penn State women's soccer head coach Erica Walsh entered Sunday afternoon's game against LaSalle looking to see how resilient her team could be.
The moment she stepped inside the locker room prior to the match, Walsh knew she had her answer.
"The energy in the locker room before this game was incredible," said Walsh. "I knew they were going to get the job done today and they really gutted it out."
The Nittany Lions came out blazing against LaSalle and refused to take their foot of the pedal, outshooting the Explorers 21-12 en route to a 5-1 victory.
Right from the jump, the tone was set by senior forward Maya Hayes, who kept the ball in LaSalle territory with three straight scoring opportunities in the first 30 minutes that just came up short.
"The work rate that Maya came out with today was exceptional even when the finishing wasn't there at first," said Walsh. "She kept getting up and creating more opportunities and the best goal-scorers are going to do that."
It didn't take much longer for Hayes to show why she's one of the nation's best goal scorers. With 11 minutes left in the half, a free kick sent the ball into the box, where after bouncing off of several players, Hayes tapped it past LaSalle goaltender Katie Getzinger to get the Lions on the board.
That would prove to be just the beginning for Hayes, who would finish the match with 8 shots, two goals, and one assist.
"My teammates challenged the ball and it dropped to me so I just hit it as hard as I could," said Hayes. "We just tried to have fun out there and I think we all really pushed each other today.
Not content with being ahead by just one, sophomore Raquel Rodriguez took it upon herself to lengthen the Nittany Lions Lead just five minutes later.
After controlling the ball deep into LaSalle territory by herself, Rodriguez swiftly maneuvered around a defender before burying the ball in the back of the net from 12 yards out.
"I saw this huge space so I just took the ball and went with it," said Rodriguez. "I took a chance and luckily it worked out."
One aspect that Walsh had continuously preached to her players was keeping their energy consistent and playing a complete game and on Sunday, the Nittany Lions did just that.
After a goal by Kelsey Haycock 14 minutes into the second half brought the Explorers within one, Penn State refocused and came back with a fury with three goals in the final 20 minutes to shut the door on any hopes of a comeback by LaSalle.
Once again Hayes was right in the center of everything, first setting up Tani Costa with a beautiful cross b before netting her second goal of the game four minutes later off of a Rodriguez corner kick.
"I'm always positive about our team's corner kicks," said Rodriguez. "I always think that if we don't score on one then we will on the next and we got one there."
With just over five minutes left in the game, senior Taylor Schram finished off the scoring for the Nittany Lions with an 18-yard blast to bring the score to 5-1.
Afterwards Walsh praised her players for not letting up when LaSalle got on the board and closing the door on their opponent.
"I thought that was a really good step for us," said Walsh. "This result was so important for us today and I really feel that we're moving forward."
Even with the Lions fatigued after two games in three days, Walsh's crew left the field on Sunday in high spirits, knowing they played to the best of their abilities.
"We talk about taking steps forward each game and we absolutely did that today," said Hayes. "We kept our foot on the gas and controlled the tempo of the game and it paid off today."