Nov. 6, 2015
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The top-seeded Penn State women's soccer team defeated the fifth-seeded Michigan Wolverines, 1-0, Friday night in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals at Jeffrey Field. With the victory, Erica Walsh won her 150th match as the head coach of the Penn State women's soccer program.
"Obviously, playing Michigan in our last game of the regular season presents some pretty unique challenges," head coach Erica Walsh said. "I thought they came in with an exceptional game plan. They did a really good job of neutralizing our strengths. I thought, right across the board, their players came and performed under tough circumstances, after not having gotten the result they wanted a week ago. So hats off to Michigan, I thought they were fantastic tonight. They gave us everything we could handle. It took a bit of an exceptional goal to break them down to win the game."
The Nittany Lions (15-3-2) peppered the Michigan (12-7-2) defense with eight shots during the first half of play, while the Wolverine offense tallied two shots of their own.
Despite the eight shots, Michigan keeper Megan Hinz only had to make one save in the opening frame. Hinz made her lone save of the first half off of Nickolette Driesse's (Wayne, N.J.) shot from 30 yards out in the 22nd minute.
Michigan posted one of its two shots in the first half in the third minute of play, but Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.) was there for the save.
In the opening moments of the second half, Michigan posted four shots in the first six minutes of play, including Nicky Waldeck's shot attempt that was stopped by Eckerstrom. After the Nittany Lions were able to withstand the Michigan attack in the early minutes of the second half, Penn State tallied three-straight shots.
Penn State recorded three shots over a six-minute span, with the third shot finding the back of the net.
In the 62nd minute, freshman Ellie Jean (Coventry, Conn.), battling for the ball in the Michigan end of the field, passed the ball from the end line on the left-side of the field to the feet of Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.). With open space, Crouse took a few steps, before firing a left-footed strike from outside the penalty area. Crouse's shot, from roughly 20 yards out, sailed over the out-stretched Hinz and into the back of the net for the 1-0 Nittany Lion lead.
Michigan looking for match-tying goal, outshot Penn State, 6-1, in the final 28:30 of play. In the final two minutes of the second half, Eckerstrom made two key saves to keep the victory, and shutout, intact for the Nittany Lions.
In the match, Penn State outshot Michigan, 13-12, but Michigan recorded a margin of 6-4 in shots on goal.
Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) and Emily Ogle (Strongsville, Ohio) led the Nittany Lion attack with five and three shots, respectively. In net, Eckerstrom made six saves to keep the Wolverines off the board.
The top-seeded Nittany Lions host the third-seeded Rutgers Scarlet Knights Sunday, Nov. 8, at 2 p.m. at Jeffrey Field for the Big Ten Tournament title live on the Big Ten Network.
Ticket prices for the Big Ten Tournament are: $8 for adults, $5 youth and Penn State students, also groups of 20 or more can buy $3 tickets. Ticket sales at the gate are cash only.