Nov. 13, 2015
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team topped UAlbany, 5-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night at Jeffrey Field. Four Nittany Lions scored in Penn State's 10th shutout of the season.
"I want to start out by complimenting Albany and congratulating them on an amazing season," head coach Erica Walsh said. "I think they came out here with an incredible belief. They stuck to their game plan and their players were disciplined. You could tell that they were well coached. They fought and I thought they had some of the better play in the second half. I give them a ton of credit for what they did out there tonight."
The Nittany Lions (17-3-2) struck first five minutes into the match on Megan Schafer's (Langhorne, Pa.) team-leading 11th goal of the season. Brittany Basinger (Purcellville, Va.) crossed the ball into the penalty area and UAlbany was unable to clear the ball. Following a UAlbany (11-9-1) header, Schafer corralled the loose ball and poked the ball past goalkeeper Alana Olivieri and into the bottom-right corner of the net.
Schafer's goal at 5:00 marks the fastest Nittany Lion goal this season. Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) scored at 5:25 against Indiana on Oct. 11.
With the Nittany Lion attack pressing in the opening frame, Penn State scored again 11 minutes later.
From near the left sideline, Basinger took advantage of the wind, which were at 23 miles per hour, and fired the ball into the penalty area. Basinger's ball bounced once, hit the right post and into the goal for the 2-0 lead in the 16th minute.
Four minutes later, Emily Ogle (Strongsville, Ohio) netted her fourth goal of the season. From 30 yards out, Ogle buried the ball underneath the crossbar and over the out-stretched Olivieri for the 3-0 tally.
A minute later, Ogle almost tallied her second goal of the match, but her shot was denied by the crossbar.
Senior Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.) made her lone save of the first half in the 29th minute. Shelby Belak tallied a shot on net, but Eckerstrom was there to keep the Great Danes off the board.
Sophomore Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.) tallied a pair of scoring chances in the final minutes of the first half of play. Crouse's shot in the 36th minute was saved and her header in the 43rd minute went wide of the net.
At the intermission, Penn State held a 3-0 lead and recorded a mark of 18-1 in shots.
Ogle found the back of the net for the second time in the match in the 56th minute. Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) played the ball into the penalty area and Ogle finished the play from six yards out. Ogle's shot hit the right post and bounced into the back of the net for the 4-0 lead.
On Ogle's second goal of the match, Weber notched her 28th career assist, which moves her into a tie for seventh all-time in the Penn State record books (Emily Hurd '14). Weber also becomes the 10th Nittany Lion to record 100 career points.
Ogle had a chance at Penn State's 21st hat trick, but her shot, off a set piece from 24 yards out in the 67th minute of play, hit the crossbar and bounced out of play.
A few minutes later, Eckerstrom made her final save of the match on Caitlyn Paltsios' shot attempt and in the 71st minute Rose Chandler (Atlanta, Ga.) took over goalkeeping duties from Eckerstrom.
Freshman Charlotte Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) netted her second goal of the season in the closing minutes of play. Williams fired a right-footed shot to the bottom-left corner of the net from the top of the penalty area for the 5-0 score in the 88th minute.
In the final 45 minutes of action, Penn State outshot UAlbany, 7-5. Overall Penn State tallied 25 shots in the match compared to six from UAlbany.
In the match, Ogle scored twice on her team-leading five shot attempts. Ogle was also credited for an assist on the Basinger goal.
The Nittany Lions will host the second round of the NCAA Tournament next weekend. Penn State will play the winner of St. John's (N.Y.) and Boston University Friday, Nov. 20, at 6:30 p.m. Visit GoPSUsports.com for more information.