UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team collected its seventh-straight win on Sunday, November 3 with a 2-0 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. The Nittany Lion goal scorers in the victory were Payton Linnehan and Rachel Wasserman.
In the early minutes of the first half, senior Amanda Dennis showed she came ready to play on Sunday. Dennis made a leaping save on a long shot attempt from the Hawkeyes in the third minute of the match to keep the game scoreless.
The Nittany Lions looked to strike just five minutes later. A free kick was awarded to the Nittany Lions and Sam Coffey sent a ball into the box that found Ally Schlegel as she outlept the Hawkeye defenders. Schlegel flicked her header toward goal but narrowly missed the mark and the game remained 0-0.
Another prime scoring chance was erased by an offsides call in the 17th minute. Coffey sent a ball behind the defense and into the box to Schlegel but the Nittany Lions leading scorer was deemed to have been offsides.
Penn State's continuous attack paid off in the 21st minute. Following an Iowa throw in, Ellie Jean headed the throw towards the middle of the field. Payton Linnehan settled the bouncing ball and sent a screaming shot on goal. The ball smacked off the crossbar and crossed the goal line to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead. The goal was Linnehan's fifth of the season. The goal on Sunday was Linnehan's fourth goal in the last five games.
Here's a look at Peyton Linnehan's goal that gave the Nittany Lions their first goal of the game. pic.twitter.com/U7i1aoG0B7
— Penn State Women's Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) November 3, 2019
In the 25th minute, Iowa was awarded a free kick from 25 yards away from the Nittany Lions goal. A strong shot on goal by Iowa's Riley Whitaker was denied by Amanda Dennis as she punched the ball over the crossbar to keep the Nittany Lions 1-0 lead intact.
With the save going out-of-bounds, the Hawkeyes were awarded a corner kick. The corner kick was sent into the box and a header was put on goal. Dennis made another huge save for the Nittany Lions to keep Penn State ahead.
Penn State maintained its composure and looked to add to its one-goal lead. In the 35th minute, the Nittany Lions earned their first corner kick of the match. Sam Coffey sent her corner into the box and the ball was deflected to the feet of Rachel Wasserman. Wasserman drilled the deflection into the back of the net to push the Nittany Lions lead to 2-0.
Looking back at Rachel Wasserman's goal to give PSU a two-goal lead! pic.twitter.com/MKpgL2cvfk
— Penn State Women's Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) November 3, 2019
The Nittany Lions went into the half leading 2-0. Amanda Dennis made four saves in the first half.
Dennis again was the focus in the second half, making a pair of saves in the first 15 minutes to keep the Nittany Lions ahead 2-0.
Penn State's defense helped secure the 2-0 victory in the Big Ten quarterfinals. Following the two shots on goal in the first 15 minutes, Penn State did not allow a shot on goal for the remaining 30 minutes of the match.
The Nittany Lions advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals with the win and will face the #8 seed Purdue on Friday, November 8 at 11 a.m. ET.
Penn State and Purdue met earlier this season with the Nittany Lions defeating the Boilermakers 2-1 in West Lafayette, Indiana on October 13. Payton Linnehan and Ally Schlegel scored in the win.
The Nittany Lions improved to 13-6-1 on the season.