Dec. 7, 2015
By Tony Mancuso & Jack Dougherty, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
CARY, N.C. - The Penn State women's soccer team (22-3-2) is atop the collegiate soccer world after defeating Duke (14-6-5), 1-0, Sunday afternoon to capture its first national championship in program history.
Sunday's triumph at WakeMed Soccer Park also marked the first ever College Cup victory by a Big Ten university.
"Congratulations to all the NCAA and the town of Cary for the environment that you've created today for these student athletes," said head coach Erica Walsh. "Obviously they feel like they have been treated like royalty as they deserve, they worked hard for it. We are really appreciative of everything that you've done to make women's soccer at this level treated in the fashion that they deserve. I thought it was a wonderful event."
Early on in the match, both teams found opportunities to score, but each group went into the locker room at halftime looking for ways to generate better looks the goal. Penn State outshot Duke, 6-4, in the first 45 minutes.
The Blue and White came out firing in the second frame, however. Penn State sent five shots at Duke goalkeeper E.J Proctor in the span of four minutes early in the half, putting great pressure on the Blue Devil defense.
After the offensive barrage, the game slowed down and neither team formulated a shot until the 72nd minute. It was then that Penn State broke the seal.
Mallory Weber received the ball on the right side and made her way to the box. Weber methodically sized up her defender, made a swift move to her left and sent a low cross to the middle of the box. The ball sliced through the Duke back line and found Raquel "Rocky" Rodriguez on the opposite side of the goal.
With a quick side step, the Costa Rican World Cup star gained space between her defender and finished far side with her left foot to give Penn State a lead it would not let go.
"This is what I was dreaming about, to score in the final, and it is the most important thing right now," Rodriguez said. "The World Cup was great but right now was all I was thinking of and I could not be more happy or grateful. It is another dream come true. Those dreams aren't more or less they are all special and that's why they are dreams."
It was only fitting that two senior captains combined for Penn State's historic game-winning goal on a day where the third senior notched a shutout in goal.
Rodriguez led Penn State with three shots and two on goal in the match. Her and fellow senior captain Weber were responsible for five of Penn State's 11 shots in the game. The third captain, goalie Britt Eckerstrom, totaled one save and recorded the 23rd shutout of her career.
"The shutout is absolutely not all me it is the whole team," said Eckerstrom. "Starting from the top and working our way down. Frannie [Crouse] and Megan [Ritchey] and Mallory [Weber] have put in to win the ball higher up on the field and then just our back line is spectacular. Those guys put in tackle after tackle and block after block and making really awesome one-on-one blocks. It was a total team effort."
The senior trio capped off their unrivaled careers with their greatest accomplishment to date, giving Penn State its coveted first national title in women's soccer.
"During the game I was thinking about that first (championship) game (in 2012) actually and all I could think of was I don't want that to happen again," said Rodriguez. "Not today, and we still had the opportunity to fight for it and all I could think of was that. I think it fueled us and it was just in the back of my mind."
"We have worked for four years for this and to go out on this note and be the first team to win a National Championship and be that senior class it is indescribable," Weber said. "It is just such a great thing and such a high right now."
The Nittany Lions finished off a remarkable 2015 campaign with 11-straight victories down the stretch, including shutouts in the final eight matches. The Nittany Lions outscored their opponents 20-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
Since allowing two goals to Loyola Marymount in the second game of the year, Penn State went the last 22 consecutive matches without conceding more than one goal. Eckerstrom capped off her best season in blue and white in fitting fashion, as she recorded her 11th shutout of the year. Her 0.47 goals allowed average is the best of her career.
"I thought she was absolutely the best goalkeeper in the nation this year and she showed it week in and week out," said Walsh. "Obviously to win a national championship it becomes all about consistency and she made the big saves but more importantly she drove this team and made them great."
The 2015 seniors finish an unparalleled four years that should land this group atop the list of the most accomplished classes in Penn State women's soccer history.
And this group etched its place in Penn State lore as the first to claim a national championship.