| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women's soccer team tallied its fourth-straight shutout, and the 11th on the year, en route to a 6-0 victory over the Boston University Terriers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night at Jeffrey Field. Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.) netted one goal and two assists on the night.
"I just want to start out by saying congrats to Boston University," head coach Erica Walsh said. "Obviously they have had a tremendous season and they are a team and staff that I have so much respect for. I thought they came out here and fought as hard as they have all season long. I was so impressed with them watching them play against St. John's. They have good defensive talent and good discipline. I'm just really impressed with the way this team showed tonight. I thought this was our most complete performance tonight."
With the win the Nittany Lions (18-3-2) will host the Ohio State Buckeyes (13-6-3) in the third round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday at 1 p.m. at Jeffrey Field. The match will be aired live on the Big Ten Network.
Despite three corner kicks in the first 10 minutes of play, the Terrier (13-6-3) defense held off the Nittany Lion attack. The Nittany Lions recorded five shots in the opening 25 minutes, before finding the net. On her fourth shot attempt of the night, Crouse put the Nittany Lions on the board in the 28th minute with her ninth goal of the season.
Freshman defender Kaleigh Riehl (Fairfax Station, Va.) brought the ball up near midfield before finding Megan Schafer (Langhorne, Pa.) wide open on the BU side of the field. With the ball, Schafer took one touch and passed the ball to Crouse on the left side of the field. Crouse moved up the field with the ball and beat a BU defender en route to entering the BU penalty area. From seven yards out Crouse fired a shot, which redirected off a BU defender and into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
The 1-0 score stood until the final minutes of the opening half.
In the closing minutes of the first half, Nickolette Driesse (Wayne, N.J.) netted her fourth goal of the season to give the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead.
Freshman Ellie Jean (Coventry, Conn.) brought the ball into the BU penalty area and crossed the ball across the penalty area looking for an open Nittany Lion. With BU unable to clear the ball, the Nittany Lions moved the ball around the box.
From just outside the left side of the penalty area, Marissa Sheva (Sellersville, Pa.) passed the ball across field to Driesse. A BU defender tried to steal the ball, but misplayed the ball, leaving Driesse wide open. Driesse fired a right-footed shot from just outside the right side of the penalty arena and into the upper-left corner of the net.
In the first half, Penn State outshot BU, 11-3, which included a mark of 3-1 in shots on goal.
Brittany Basinger (Purcellville, Va.) and Crouse recorded assists on the next two Nittany Lion goals.
Ten minutes into the second half, Schafer added to the Nittany Lion lead with her team-leading 12th goal of the season.
From midfield, Basinger played the ball to Schafer, who in one motion turned to her left, beat a BU defender and made her way towards the net. BU keeper Alyssa Parisi came off her line, but Schafer connected on a right-footed shot past Parisi and into the net for the 3-0 tally in the 55th minute of play.
Seven minutes later, freshman Charlotte Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) scored in her second-straight match for the Blue and White.
Off a throw-in from Basinger in the BU end of the field, Crouse took the ball into the BU penalty area, passed the ball to Williams, who was near the top of the box. Williams went to the left side of the box, fired a left-footed shot on goal that deflected off a Terrier defender and under the Parisi for the 4-0 mark.
The Nittany Lions tallied two more goals in the closing minutes of the match. On a corner kick, senior Megan Ritchey (State College, Pa.) placed the ball into the penalty area to a leaping Elizabeth Ball (Richmond, Va.), who headed the ball home for her third goal of the 2015 campaign in the 84th minute.
Under 10 seconds to play in regulation, Haleigh Echard (Lebanon, Pa.) tallied her second career goal as a Nittany Lion. From outside the penalty area, Williams split two BU defenders, passed the ball to Ritchey, who played the ball to Echard on the left side of the field then from 24 yards out, Echard fired a left-footed shot into the right side of the net. Ritchey tallied assists on the final two goals of the night.
Senior Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.) made two saves en route to the shutout victory for the Nittany Lions.
In the match, Penn State outshot BU, 22-6, including a margin of 7-2 in shots on goal.
With the 6-0 decision, the Nittany Lions have scored 11 goals in the last two matches and have yet to concede two goals in a match since Aug. 30 (4-2 win over Arkansas).
The six goals by Penn State Friday marks the third time this season the Nittany Lions have scored five goals in a match and the third time in program history the Nittany Lions have scored six goals in an NCAA Tournament match. Penn State last scored six goals in a match on Sept. 23, 2014 against Bucknell (7-0).
The Nittany Lion defense improved its goals against average Friday with the clean sheet. In the Penn State record books, the 2015 squad moved into third with its GAA of .60. Previously third, the 2007 team tallied a GAA of .61, as it allowed 15 goals in 2020 minutes played.
Penn State also improves to 34-6-1 in NCAA Tournament matches at Jeffrey Field.