| 5 | 1 |
| Jeffrey Field | University Park, Pa. | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
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| FINAL STATISTICS |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Sept. 19, 2014 - Creative play and lightning fast speed by the No. 8 Penn State women's soccer team resulted in a 5-1 dominating Big Ten over Ohio State on Friday.
The Nittany Lions (7-1, 3-0 Big Ten) opened scoring just over two minutes into the match. Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) beat a slew of Ohio State defenders with outstanding footwork and sent a short cross from the nearside post to Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.) farside wing and, from the front of the net, tapped in the ball for the 1-0 lead.
Salina Williford's (Wayne, Pa.) first career goal doubled Penn State's lead in the 26th minute. The sophomore took advantage of a defensive miscue, charged toward the net and knocked in the ball for the 2-0 score.
Ohio State (4-5, 1-2 Big Ten) was able to get on the board just 54 second into the half. Following a free kick, Sydney Dudley headed in the ball off of a rebound for the 3-1 count.
But Penn State responded a little over two minutes later with its own goal off of a free kick. After an Emily Ogle (Strongsville, Ohio) free kick, Whitney Church (Ashburn, Va.), in a crowd near the goal line, was able to volley the ball into the back of the net for the first time this year, putting the Blue and White up, 3-1.
The Lions continued to generate offense and at the 64-minute mark, Crouse's lightning fast speed struck the Buckeyes again. Kori Chapic (Russell, Ohio) beat a Buckeye defender as she was streaking down the left wing and slid the ball to Crouse. Crouse then knocked it in from a diagonal two yards out at the nearside post for the 4-1 lead.
Penn State's play continued to stymie Ohio State's defenders and at 77:45, it paid off. Just inside the nearside corner of the 18-yard box, Haleigh Echard (Lebanon, Pa.) sent a diagonal cross to Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica). Rodriguez then extended her scoring streak to four games and rocketed the ball into the back of the Ohio State net for the final 5-1 score.
The Nittany Lions continue their four game homestand with a 7 p.m. game on Sept. 23 against Bucknell.