Sept. 18, 2015
By Jack Dougherty, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" The Penn State women's soccer team had found itself in a multitude of close games in the past few weeks. On Thursday night, that wasn't the case.
After a huge weekend on the west coast, the Nittany Lions kept the momentum going with a resounding 4-0 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers in their Big Ten opener.
Penn State (6-1-1) has now won three straight matches, including a monumental victory over the second-ranked Stanford Cardinal last Friday. Goalie Britt Eckerstrom and the defensive unit has held their opponents scoreless in each of those games.
"Everybody in the stadium looks at that scoreboard and sees four, and our team needs to look at it and see zero," head coach Erica Walsh said. "We've had a couple of shutouts in a row now against really good teams. To put four balls in the back of the net is fantastic, but to continue to shut these good teams out is probably even more important."
The young back line didn't just make their presence felt on the defensive side of the ball. Freshman Ellie Jean and redshirt sophomore Brittany Basinger were constantly attacking from their outside positions, which placed added pressure on a shaky Wisconsin defense.
In the 30th minute, Jean made a strong move from the right sideline to blow by two defenders and sent a low cross to the middle of the box. Senior captain Mallory Weber was right there for the one-time finish to the corner of the net to open the scoring for the Blue and White. Weber's fifth goal of the season gives her the team lead.
"We're pretty instinctive, so I knew she was going to be there," Jean said. "That's pretty much her spot. We've scored like that before so I know she's there and trust her to get there."
"I think a big part of our game is getting those guys into the attack," said Walsh. "When they're not able to do so, things fail a little bit like they did against West Virginia. I think both Bassinger and Ellie Jean were a big part of our attack tonight."
The match progressed quietly throughout the first half and into the second, but the Badgers began to show signs of fatigue as the time went on. Luckily for the Nittany Lions, their deep bench created a mismatch for the tired back line of Wisconsin.
In the 55th minute, Freshman Charlotte Williams entered the game for Frannie Crouse and immediately made her presence felt. Three minutes after stepping between the lines, Williams did her best Ellie Jean impression and found Megan Schafer in the middle of the box for a goal in a near identical play.
Shortly after, Marissa Sheva was called to action from the bench and got to work right away. In the 72nd minute, Sheva made a run to the left half of the box, received a beautiful through ball from Raquel Rodriguez in between three defenders, and finished near-post to increase the lead to 3-0. It was the freshman's first goal of her career.
Six minutes later, the Nittany Lions put the finishing touches on. Charlotte Williams found herself wide open on the right half after a defensive miscue and notched her second assist of the game with a perfect, high-arching cross that Frannie Crouse headed past the keeper with ease.
"Charlotte Williams gave us a huge bump," Walsh said. "All these guys off the bench I thought were good tonight. I keep talking about being 26 strong and I think we really saw it tonight."
"Depending on what team we play, we play a different format," said Williams. "I think it doesn't make a huge difference if you're starting or coming off the bench. If you're coming off the bench you're trying to change the game and impact it."
A total of 20 Penn State players saw the field Thursday night. The bench amassed five shots and two assists on the night, both courtesy of Williams.
"In my nine years, this is the deepest we've been," said Walsh. "To be honest, as a coaching staff we're still trying to figure out how to use them all and that's a great problem to have. Different days, different players are more effective against different opponents so we have to be smart enough to figure out how to use them."
The Nittany Lions will be back at Jeffery Field Sunday for a Big Ten showdown with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Penn State defeated Minnesota 1-0 in Minneapolis last year.