Nov. 8, 2015
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The top-seeded Penn State women's soccer team defeated third-seeded Rutgers, 2-0, Sunday afternoon, en route to its sixth Big Ten Tournament title. The win also marks the third time Penn State has won the Big Ten Tournament at home (1998 and 2006).
"I want to start out by saying congrats to Rutgers," head coach Erica Walsh said. "I thought it was a fantastic final. I thought the quality of play was as good as I've seen in any Big Ten match this year. I'm obviously really proud of the way the team came out. From start to finish we battled, we kept our composure. I thought we played Penn State soccer on both sides of the ball. The energy was there, the leadership was there and it was a really good performance from our team today."
The Nittany Lions (16-3-2) scored the first goal of the match in the ninth minute off a corner kick from Nickolette Driesse (Wayne, N.J.).
On the corner kick, Driesse placed the ball into the penalty area, where Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) netted the ball on goal from six yards out. With the ball heading towards goal, sophomore defender Elizabeth Ball (Richmond, Va.) redirected the shot over the diving Casey Murphy and into the back of the net for her second goal of the season.
Rodriguez' assist on the Ball goal was the 26th of her Nittany Lion career, which moved her into a tie for ninth all-time at Penn State.
Rutgers (16-3-2) responded with a pair of shot attempts, in the 15th and 18th minute. The first attempt went wide and Cassie Inacio's shot attempt in the 18th minute was corralled by senior keeper Britt Eckerstrom (Germantown, Md.). Inacio's shot attempt was the lone shot on goal for Rutgers on the afternoon.
Penn State then continued to the pressure the Rutgers in its own penalty area. The Nittany Lions moved the ball around the Rutgers penalty area, before Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.) tallied a shot from 18 yards out.
Crouse's shot, which was blocked by a Rutgers defender, rebounded to the feet of Emily Ogle (Strongsville, Ohio). Ogle moved up the field a few yards before striking the ball past the outstretched Murphy from 22 yards out. Ogle's shot made its way into the left side of the net for the 2-0 Nittany Lion lead in the 26th minute.
The Nittany Lions capitalized on its opportunities during the first 45 minutes of action, as they scored on two of their five shot attempts.
At the break the Scarlet Knights trailed for the first time all season. For the second time this season, the Rutgers defense conceded two goals in a match. Prior to today's match, Rutgers tallied 15 shutouts on the year.
Penn State kept the Rutgers offense in check throughout the match, as Rutgers only five shot attempts on the afternoon. Heading into the match, Rutgers was averaging 16 shots per game.
Looking to get on the board in the second half, Rutgers posted two shot attempts and three corner kicks. Down the stretch, the Penn State defense held off the Rutgers attack securing the victory and the ninth shutout of the season. Sunday's match marked the fourth time this season the Nittany Lion defense has held the opposition to one shot on goal.
Following the match, Crouse, Eckerstrom and Ogle were named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team. Crouse was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the Tournament and Eckerstrom was named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Tournament.
In the 2015 Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament, Crouse tallied two goals and one assist. In net, Eckerstrom played 270:00 minutes, made 10 saves and allowed one goal.
The NCAA will announce the bracket for the Division I women's soccer championship Monday, Nov. 9, live on NCAA.com at 4:30 p.m. The first round of play begins next weekend. Visit GoPSUsports.com for more information regarding the Nittany Lions and the NCAA Tournament.