Aug. 23, 2015
| 4 | 2 |
| Jeffrey Field | University Park, Pa. | 1,028 | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -Behind goals from four Nittany Lions, the No. 6 Penn State women's soccer team defeated Loyola Marymount, 4-2, Sunday afternoon at Jeffrey Field. The Nittany Lions improved to 2-0-0 on the young season, while the Lions fell to 0-2-0.
Penn State scored the lone goal of the first half on the foot of senior captain Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) in the 15th-minute.
Weber split past the LMU defense on the right side of the 18-yard box and blasted a shot over the keeper and into the upper left corner. Her goal Sunday is the 30th of her career and moves her into a tie for ninth all-time at Penn State (Courtney Nelson, '99).
The Nittany Lion defense stood tall during the first 45 minutes of action, as they did not allow the Lions to tally a single shot. During the first 45 minutes of play, Penn State outshot LMU, 15-0.
The offense for both teams picked up the pace in the second half, as they combined for five goals on 17 shots.
Weber, looking for her third goal of the weekend, had a breakaway opportunity, but LMU's Sophia Leksan stepped up in the 50th-minute and before Weber was able to fire a shot, Leksan dove for the ball keeping the Lions within one. Though, a few minutes later, Weber contributed to the next Nittany Lion goal.
In the 52nd-minute, Weber recorded a shot that hit the crossbar and with the LMU keeper out of position, Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.) gave the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead, as she headed home her first goal of the season.
Within 30 seconds of Crouse's goal, Sarina Bolden put LMU on the board bringing the Lions within one.
Six minutes later, Penn State and LMU traded goals again.
In the top left corner of the box, freshman Charlotte Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) placed a shot into the top left corner over the LMU keeper to give the Nittany Lions a 3-1 lead in the 58th-minute, though LMU responded seconds later.
The Lions tallied a goal of their own less than 20 seconds later. LMU's Jocelyn Blankenship brought the Lions back within one as she scored her first goal of the season.
In the 63rd-minute, Megan Schafer (Langhorne, Pa.) and an LMU defender went one-on-one in the box and Schafer broke away from the LMU defender and beat the keeper for her first goal of 2015.
Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.) made one of her two saves in game in the 71st-minute, as Raquel Angelone connected on a header off a corner kick.
Leksan stepped up down the final stretch of the game as Marissa Sheva (Sellersville, Pa.) and Williams recorded multiple shots. In the 81st-minute, Sheva tallied two shots back-to-back, but Leksan saved the first one and the second shot went high.
Williams, looking for her second goal of the game, tallied three shot attempts in a row. Leksan made two key saves on Williams in the 86th-minute and on the second rebound, Williams fired home a shot and an LMU defender cleared the ball before it crossed the goal line.
In all, Penn State outshot LMU, 27-5 and recorded 12 corner kicks compared to LMU's two.
Nickolette Driesse (Wayne, N.J.) received the assist on Schafer's and Williams' goals, while Weber recorded the assist on Crouse's goal.
Williams led the Nittany Lion offense with six shots, while Crouse, Schafer and Sheva all tallied four shots.
The Nittany Lions continue their season-opening homestand next Friday as they host Duke at 8 p.m.
.