Aug. 21, 2015
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| Jeffrey Field | University Park, Pa. | 3,175 | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| VIDEO: Postgame Comments |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 6 Penn State women's soccer team opened up the 2015 season with a 2-1 win over Hofstra in front of 3,175 fans at Jeffrey Field. Emily Ogle's (Strongsville, Ohio) goal in the 68th-minute sealed the victory for the Nittany Lions.
"I mean this atmosphere tonight, are you kidding me!?," head coach Erica Walsh said. "This was one of the most incredible environments we've had here at Jeffrey field in my nine years, rivals the 2012 game against Stanford when we put 5,000 people in the stands so I just want to thank the town and university and the community for coming out tonight. A lot of freshmen in the stands which was exciting in a lot of ways, those guys won the game for us by keeping the spirit up."
Not even 20 seconds into the contest, freshman Alina Ortega-Jurado (Wetzlar, Germany) recorded her first career shot. Hofstra's Friederike Mehring tallied the first of four saves on Ortega-Jurado's shot.
Penn State's next best attempt on goal during the early moments of the contest came from Raquel Rodriguez' (San Jose, Costa Rica) shot in the seventh minute. Despite the open look, Rodriguez' shot went high.
Penn State's fourth shot of the contest would break the tie as Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) put the Nittany Lions on top in the 17th minute. Freshman Ellie Jean (Coventry, Conn.) found a cutting Weber in the box and Weber put the ball past the keeper for her first goal of the year. Weber's goal Friday night is the 29th of her career, which moved her into a tie for 10th all-time at Penn State (Nairn '12).
The Nittany Lion offense continued to place pressure on the Pride's defense in the final five minutes of the first half, but came up empty on three corner kicks.
In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Hofstra went on the attack as they recorded five corner kicks. The Nittany Lion defense stayed strong though by only allowing one shot attempt during that time.
Two-time CAA Player of the Year Leah Galton put Hofstra on the board in the 65th-minute. Following a Kristin Desmond throw-in, Galton broke past two defenders and the put the ball past Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.) and into the bottom right corner.
It didn't take long for the Penn State offense to respond following the Hofstra goal. After a Hofstra foul right outside the 18-yard box, Ogle fired a perfectly placed shot into the back of the net in the 68th-minute. Her game-winning goal is the fourth of her career.
During the final 15 minutes of play, the Penn State defense kept the Hofstra offense in check by only allowing one shot attempt.
Rodriguez led the Nittany Lions with five shots, while Megan Schafer (Langhorne, Pa.), Weber and Charlotte Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) each posted two shots.
The Nittany Lions posted 18 shots in the match, while the Pride recorded six.
Friday's contest was the fourth-largest in Penn State women's soccer history at Jeffrey Field.
Penn State returns to Jeffrey Field Sunday at noon as they host Loyola Marymount.