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IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Penn State women's soccer team returned to its winning ways with a 5-1 victory over Iowa Sunday afternoon at the Iowa Soccer Complex. Four Nittany Lions scored in the contest, including Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.), who tallied two goals.
The Nittany Lions improve to 7-2-2 (2-1-1) on the season, while the Hawkeyes fall to 6-5-0 (0-4-0) on the year.
The Hawkeyes received an indirect free kick in the penalty area from 10 yards out in the eighth minute, but the Nittany Lion defense stood tall and withstood two Hawkeye shot attempts. Following the two Iowa shot attempts, the Hawkeyes tallied another shot attempt, after a corner kick. The Nittany Lion defense, once again, cleared the ball out of danger.
The Nittany Lions got on the board first in the 17th minute off of Crouse's fifth goal of the year. The goal was set up by Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) keeping the ball alive near the Hawkeye end line. Weber passed the ball outside the penalty area, where Charlotte Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) was waiting. From the left side of the field, Williams swung the ball into the box where Crouse redirected the pass off her head and into the bottom-left corner of the net.
Four minutes later, Megan Schafer (Langhorne, Pa.) also tallied her fifth goal of the season. From the right side of the penalty area, Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) passed the ball across the box to a cutting Schafer. Off a one-touch, Schafer hit a right-footed shot across the Hawkeye goal line for the 2-0 lead.
Rodriguez' assist Sunday is the 25th of her career, which moves her into a tie for 11th all-time at Penn State (Liz Villamil - '97).
In the 27th minute of play, the Hawkeye offense converted on a penalty kick to bring the score within 2-1. Though that score did not last long, as Nickolette Driesse (Wayne, N.J.) tallied her first goal as a Nittany lion a few minutes later.
From 24 yards out, freshman Alina Ortega-Jurado (Wetzlar, Germany) headed a pass to the feet of Driesse. With space to work, Driesse moved up a few yards before firing a left-footed chip shot over the out-stretched Hannah Clark. Driesse's shot was placed perfectly between the out-stretched keeper and the crossbar.
After the opening frame of play, the Nittany Lions led, 3-1, and held an advantage in shots, 16-5.
Seven minutes into the second half, Crouse scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season. Off a throw-in from Maddie Elliston (Omaha, Neb.), Crouse took the ball from outside the penalty area on the left side of the field, played the ball to herself and took a few steps before firing her shot. From just inside the top-left corner of the penalty area, Crouse fired a right-footed shot that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced into the net.
Penn State tacked on one more goal in the 57th minute. Emily Ogle (Strongsville, Ohio) passed the ball into the penalty area to Ortega-Jurado, who in one motion passed the ball to Marissa Sheva (Sellersville, Pa.), who was cutting towards the net from the right side of the box. Once she received the pass, Sheva connected with a left-footed shot to the bottom-left corner of the net for her second goal of the season.
After a handball against the Hawkeyes in their own penalty area in the 88th minute, Elizabeth Ball (Richmond, Va.) stepped up for her first career penalty kick attempt. Ball aimed the shot towards the bottom-left corner, but Emma Rigby was there for the stop.
Today's match marks the fourth time this season that the Nittany Lions have scored at least four goals in a contest. Crouse also becomes the second Nittany Lion this year to a tally a pair of goals in a single match (Schafer vs. Arkansas).
In the contest, Penn State outshot Iowa, 24-8, including a mark of 14-2 in shots on goal.
The Nittany Lions conclude their three-game road trip next Sunday, Oct. 4, at noon CDT, as they travel to Bridgeview, Ill., to take on the Northwestern Wildcats at Toyota Park.