Nov. 8, 2015
By Jack Dougherty, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" The Penn State women's soccer team will head into the NCAA Tournament riding a wave of momentum after shutting out Rutgers, 2-0, to secure its sixth Big Ten Tournament title and the second under head coach Erica Walsh.
The Nittany Lions notched two shutouts in the tournament and outscored their opponents 6-1 in three games. By scoring two goals against Rutgers, Penn State became just the second team to do so all year.
The offensive attack didn't take long to strike. Penn State's forwards were aggressive out of the gate, and they caused multiple set pieces in the opening minutes.
In the ninth minute, Nickolette Driesse swung a corner kick into the box and RU's keeper, Casey Murphy, hesitated to charge. The ball found senior captain Raquel Rodriguez's head in the middle and redirected towards goal, but her shot deflected off sophomore Elizabeth Ball's head. Luckily, the deflection shot directly to the top corner and gave the Lions an early 1-0 lead.
"I was trying to actually move out of the way," said Ball. "I thought it was going to hit me and go over the net, but it just skimmed my head. It was really Rocky's goal to be honest."
Dissatisfied with just one goal, Penn State kept on the offensive. Senior captain Mallory Weber created space down the right side and forced yet another corner kick in the 26th minute.
The ensuing corner was headed away initially, but the ball ended up in sophomore Frannie Crouse's possession after the attempted clearance. Crouse took a touch and tried her luck from outside the box, but her attempt was blocked. Her shot rebounded right to midfielder Emily Ogle, who eyed up her target and struck a laser that curved into the near corner for the goal.
"Good things happen when Ogle touches the ball," Walsh said. "These two games were conducive to her finding the ball more I thought Raquel did a nice job creating space for her and attracting a crowd, but Ogle was outstanding all weekend."
Set pieces were the key to the Blue and White's first half success. Penn State mustered six corner kick in the first 45 minutes, while only surrendering one. Both goals came as a result of a corner.
"I give all the credit there to Tim Wassel," said Walsh. "He did a good job of analyzing their set pieces and putting a couple different wrinkles in. The team did a nice job of implementing them, and we had some success off of it."
Ogle and Crouse were named to the 2015 All-Tournament Team, along with goalie Britt Eckerstrom. Eckerstrom was awarded Defensive Player of the Tournament and Crouse won Offense Player of the Tournament.
Eckerstrom let up only one goal in the tournament and totaled 11 saves. Crouse scored two goals in the tournament.
"This team is really incredible," said Eckerstrom. "We ask for more out of the team and every time the team gives more. We've got big expectations, but we're still taking it one game at a time."
The Nittany Lions will enter the NCAA Tournament with a 16-3-2 mark. Penn State has won five straight contests, outscoring opponents 11-3 over that stretch.
"We're peaking at the right time," Ogle said. "We're not done yet. We have a bigger goal in mind. We're trying to win a national championship, but this is a great step towards that."