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Aug. 20, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team scored twice within a 49-second span early in the second half to propel the Nittany Lions to a 3-0 victory over the Hofstra Pride Sunday afternoon at Jeffrey Field.
"I was really impressed with the team's performance today," head coach Erica Dambach said. "Obviously, excited to put three in the back of the net against a good Hofstra team, a good organized team. They presented us some good challenges especially through the midfield with some of their marking and for Rose Chandler and the backline to get the shutout that they've been working towards obviously that's an area of focus for us. We didn't quite get it on Friday night, but we kept them off the board today and it was a really solid weekend for us."
The two teams went into the halftime break scoreless with the Nittany Lions (2-0-0) leading the Pride (0-2-0) in shot attempts, 8-2. Penn State opened the second half out-shooting Hofstra, 6-0, over the first 11 minutes of play.
The Penn State offense got on the board with freshman Frankie Tagliaferri (Colts Neck, N.J.) netting her first goal as a Nittany Lion during the 53rd minute. Off an Emily Ogle (Strongsville, Ohio) corner kick, the ball was headed towards Tagliaferri by Elizabeth Ball (Richmond, Va.). Near the right post, Tagliaferri flicked the ball behind her and into the back of the net to give the Blue & White a 1-0 lead.
The Nittany Lions then added to their lead 49-seconds later as Megan Schafer (Langhorne, Pa.) was taken down by a Hofstra defender inside the penalty area. With a penalty kick awarded, Ogle stepped up and connected on her first goal of the 2017 season at 53:30.
Penn State collected its final goal of the afternoon as Alina Ortega Jurado (Waldgirmes, Germany) played the ball to Schafer from midfield. With just the keeper to beat, Schafer flicked the ball over Hofstra goalkeeper Ashley Wilson from 19-yards out for her first tally of her senior year during the 78th minute of play.
In net for the Nittany Lions, redshirt junior Rose Chandler (Atlanta, Ga.) made one save in 82:30 of action, while sophomore Sarafina Valenti (Bechtelsville, Pa.) closed out the match to keep the Nittany Lion shutout victory intact.
Penn State begins a two-match road trip on Friday, Aug. 25, at No. 17 Arkansas. The match against the Razorbacks is slated for a 6:30 p.m. start at Razorback Field.
NOTES: Penn State improves to 6-0-0 all-time against Hofstra...The Nittany Lions are now 66-6-6 at Jeffrey Field since the start of the 2011 season...Penn State outshot Hofstra, 17-3...Emily Ogle improves to 2-for-2 on penalty kick attempts...Megan Schafer scored her 26th career goal Sunday, which ranks 17th all-time at Penn State...Casey Ballow and Emma Thomson made their Penn State debuts Sunday…Penn State tallied its first shutout of the season.