Sept. 9, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team recorded a 3-0 victory over San Diego State Friday evening at Jeffrey Field. With the victory, Erica Dambach captured her 200th win as an NCAA Division I women's soccer head coach.
"I am really proud of the team on both sides of the ball," Dambach said. "We played through the roster, one to 26, and they all were fantastic tonight. To get three goals and have a shutout is really rewarding for all the work the players have put in."
The Nittany Lions (3-2-1) got on the board in the 29th minute as Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.) scored her first of two goals on the evening.
Nickolette Driesse (Wayne, N.J.), from midfield, played the ball to Crouse, who received the ball outside the SDSU penalty area. With the ball, Crouse, made a move into the penalty area, eluded an Aztec defender, beat goalkeeper Gabby English from six yards out and placed the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net for the 1-0 tally.
Penn State outshot the Aztecs (0-4-0) by a margin of 16-2 over the first 45 minutes of play. During the opening half, Crouse and Charlotte Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) paced the Nittany Lion offense with five shot attempts apiece.
The Blue and White struck twice early in the second half within a four-minute span to give the Nittany Lions a 3-0 lead.
Junior Megan Schafer (Langhorne, Pa.) added to the Nittany Lion lead in the 52nd minute off an assist from Alina Ortega Jurado (Waldgirmes, Germany). From the Nittany Lion backline, Ortega Jurado passed the ball to Schafer over the top of the Aztec defense. Schafer then moved up field and fired a shot past English from 18 yards out and into the right side of the net for the 2-0 tally.
At the 55:39 mark, Crouse made it a 3-0 contest as she netted her second goal of the game and fifth of the season.
From outside the SDSU penalty area, Laura Freigang (Oppenheim, Germany) passed the ball to Crouse, who was by herself in the Aztec penalty area. Crouse from the right side of the penalty area made a move past English and put the ball into the upper-left corner of the net from six yards out.
Freshman Sarafina Valenti (Bechtelsville, Pa.) made her Nittany Lion debut as she took over for fellow classmate Amanda Dennis (San Diego, Calif.) in net in the 80th minute. Valenti played the final 10:12 of the match and recorded her first career save at 86:54.
The Nittany Lions close out the non-conference portion of the 2016 regular season Sunday at 1 p.m. against La Salle at Jeffrey Field. Following the match against La Salle, the Nittany Lions are hosting a post-match autograph session.
NOTES: Penn State won the first meeting between the two programs Friday...Coach Dambach improved to 200-80-14 all-time as an NCAA Division I women's soccer head coach...The Nittany Lions are now 402-105-30 all-time in program history...Penn State improved to 57-5-5 at Jeffrey Field since the start of the 2011 season...Crouse recorded her fifth career two-goal game...Crouse has scored four goals over the past two games...Crouse moved into 16th-place at PSU in goals scored with 26...Ortega Jurado tallied her first point of the 2016 season...Penn State recorded its first shutout of the year...Penn State outshot SDSU, 29-5.