Sept. 26, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 8 Penn State women's soccer team used six goals from five different players en route to a dominant 6-1 victory over Purdue on Thursday night as it honored the life and legacy of Mack Brady. Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica), Kori Chapic (Novelty, Ohio), Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.), Tani Costa (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Kindrah Kohne (Homer, N.Y.) each scored for the Nittany Lions.
"It is so nice to see something that you put in practice finally work," said Nittany Lion head coach Erica Walsh. "The great victory as a coach is to help your team concentrate on a particular area, focus on it and then see it come into play so I am very proud of them for that tonight."
PSU (8-1-1, 2-0-0 Big Ten) extends its winning streak to seven-straight matches and maintains its perfect record for the month of September. Thursday night's match marks the second time that the Blue and White have notched six goals this season and the first time that they have had two six-goal matches since 2010. The Lions also sent six into the back of the net in their 6-0 win at Bucknell on Sept. 10.
"Our work rate was exceptional tonight," said Walsh. "Maya is leading the charge right now. She didn't get a goal until the fifth goal and you would not have known it by her attitude or her work rate, everything was spot-on tonight and the rest of the group followed."
Penn State's offense was not the only impressive part of the match as the defensive unit held the Boilermakers (5-4-1, 0-2-0) to just one shot for the entire game.
Rodriguez put the Nittany Lions on the board early, tallying her second goal of the season in the seventh minute of action. Hayes dribbled the ball to beat a defender and crossed it to Rodriguez, who put it in from eight yards out.
The Lions had two more scoring opportunities at the 9:03 and 10:37 marks. Senior Taylor Schram Canonsburg, Pa.) made and attempt from 12 yards in front of the goal and Hayes fired from just outside the box but Purdue keeper Clara Kridler was up to the task, collecting saves on both shots.
The Boilermakers evened the score in the 16th minute as forward Maddy Williams tallied her seventh goal of the year. Juliana Hairston played a cross to Jordan Pawlik and Pawlick flicked it to Williams, who was able to finish from 10 yards out. With the goal, Williams becomes the first Purdue player to score on Jeffrey Field since 2005.
"We had a leadership moment this week and we talked about that defining moment after you give up a goal and how we are going to handle it," said Walsh. "The leaders on this team really led us through that tough time tonight."
Four minutes later PSU nearly put their second goal on the board as Schram sent one in after rebounding a Kridler save but offsides was called, negating the shot.
The Blue and White were awarded a corner kick in the 37th minute and came up with their second goal of the match. Chapic headed the ball in off a fantastic corner from Rodriguez to give Penn State a 2-1 lead.
The Lions' next tally came right before the half as Purdue sent an own goal into the net. Costa crossed the ball towards the goal and it deflected off of Boilermaker defender Kim Love as she was attempting to clear it, putting PSU up 3-1.
Penn State didn't waste much time before extending their lead to 4-1 as Costa posted her third goal of the season in the 53rd minute. Emily Hurd (Sammamish, Wash.) crossed the ball to Costa and the senior buried the ball in the back of the net from point blank range.
Hayes was the next to score for the Lions, registering her 11th goal of the year at the 62:00 mark. The forward beat a defender at the edge of the box and slid one past Kridler, giving the Blue and White a 5-1 advantage.
Kohne capped the scoring and posted her first Penn State goal in the 77th minute of play. The junior midfielder intercepted a pass from Purdue and hammered the ball in from 20 yards deep to leave the score at 6-1.
"It was a pretty special night on Jeffrey Field," said Walsh. "It was great to see Kindrah Kohne celebrate a big goal."
The Blue and White return to Jeffrey on Sunday to host Indiana in the "Kick for the Cure Pink Game." The match is slated for a noon start.