Oct. 15, 2017
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - It took 95 minutes, but the No. 13 Penn State women's soccer team was able to capture a victory over the Maryland Terrapins Sunday afternoon at Ludwig Field. Sophomore Laura Freigang (Oppenheim, Germany) netted the lone goal of the afternoon at 94:02 to send the Nittany Lions home victorious, 1-0.
With the win Sunday, Penn State improves to 10-3-2 overall and 6-1-2 in Big Ten action, while Maryland falls to 7-7-2 on the year and 1-7-1 against Big Ten competition.
More importantly, Penn State moves to within one point of Ohio State for the top spot in the Big Ten standings with two matches remaining. Ohio State sits atop the league with 21 points followed by Penn State (20) and Minnesota (19).
In a match that featured Penn State outshoot Maryland, 15-1, and post a shot on goal advantage of 6-1, the Nittany Lions were finally able to find the back of the net on Freigang's second game-winning goal of the season at 94:02. She also brought home a Penn State victory in a 1-0 double overtime outing against Illinois on Sept. 17 at Jeffrey Field.
Along with Penn State's six shots on goal, senior Megan Schafer (Langhorne, Pa.) hit the post in the 29th minute and Freigang hit the crossbar in the 61st minute.
On the game-winning goal, junior Marissa Sheva (Sellersville, Pa.) played the ball to Freigang on the right side of the field. With the ball, Freigang moved into the 18-yard box and fired a shot past Maryland goalkeeper Rachel Egyed and into the bottom-left corner of the net from 10 yards out to capture the 1-0 Penn State victory.
In net, Rose Chandler (Atlanta, Ga.) made her lone save of the afternoon during the 77th minute, while Egyed tallied a five-save outing for the Terrapins.
The Nittany Lions return to Jeffrey Field for their final home match of the 2017 regular season on Friday, Oct. 20, against Purdue. The match is slated for a 7 p.m. start.
NOTES: Penn State leads the all-time series against Maryland, 11-4-0...Penn State outshot Maryland, 15-1...Laura Freigang's game-winning goal Sunday was her second of the season and the third of her career...Freigang became the first Nittany Lion since Christine Nairn to capture two game-winning goals in overtime in a single-season (2012)...The Penn State defense recorded its ninth shutout of the season, which includes seven shutouts in Big Ten play...Penn State has tallied four-straight shutouts for the first time since the 2015 season (eight-straight en route to the 2015 NCAA title)...Chandler tallied her sixth solo shutout of the season.
*Note: English translation of the German headline means "Freigang shoots game winning goal."*