Oct. 3, 2014
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| Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium | Minneapolis, Minn. | |
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Minneapolis, Minn. - The No. 7 Penn State women's soccer team improved its perfect Big Ten record to 6-0 and recorded its fifth clean sheet of the year after topping Minnesota, 1-0, on Friday.
A crucial error by the Golden Gophers (6-6, 3-3 Big Ten) in the 22nd minute resulted in the game-winning goal. Being pressured in her own end by Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.), a Minnesota defender sent a back pass to the goalkeeper Tarah Hobbs. But the ball was out of Hobbs reach and careened into the net for the 1-0 score.
The Nittany Lions (11-1, 6-0 Big Ten) did not allow Minnesota to put any shots on frame en route to Penn State's fifth shutout this season. The Blue and White outshot the Golden Gophers, 13-5, recording four shots on goal. Additionally, the defensive corps of Elizabeth Ball (Richmond, Va.), Maddie Elliston (Omaha, Neb.) and Kori Chapic (Russell, Ohio), all of whom played full time, as well as Whitney Church (Ashburn, Va.), limited the opposition to just one chance in the second half.
Britt Eckerstrom's (Germantown, Md.) record improved to 11-1 as she sports a 0.66 goals against average in 948 minutes played.
"Anytime you get a shutout, you're happy," head coach Erica Walsh said. "We kept them from a shot on goal which is positive, but we weren't good enough on the attacking side.
"The credit goes to Minnesota. They played the game they wanted. We weren't able to solve their pressure and we feel lucky coming out with a win."
Penn State travels to Madison on Sunday to face No. 13 Wisconsin at 1 p.m. Said Walsh, "We lost the physical battle tonight. We need to see how Minnesota imposed their style on us and figure out ways to solve it."