IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Penn State women's soccer team (7-1-1, 7-1-1) won its third straight with a 1-0 road win over the Iowa Hawkeyes (1-7-1, 1-7-1) on Thursday, March 25. Ally Schlegel scored her Big Ten leading seventh goal of the season to give the Nittany Lions the victory.
Goalkeeper Katherine Asman recorded her third shutout of the season, making four saves in the win.
How It Happened
- The Nittany Lions nearly got on the scoreboard in the third minute of the match, captain Sam Coffey nearly curved in a corner kick. The Hawkeyes keeper made a leaping save to keep the scored knotted at 0-0.
- Asman made her first save of the match in the ninth minute. The Nittany Lions were able to flip the field and Frankie Tagliaferri sent a blast that was destined to find the back of the net, a Hawkeye defender stepped in front of the shot and blocked the drive on goal.
- Five minutes later, Schlegel attempted her first shot of the match and was denied by the Hawkeye keeper.
- Schlegel bested the keeper in the 21st minute, getting behind the Hawkeye defense on a perfect through ball from Frankie Tagliaferri and gave Penn State its 1-0 advantage.
- Penn State tallied five more shots in the half but could not extend the lead any further.
- Out of the half, Rachel Wasserman looked to extend the lead in the 53rd minute. Wasserman sprinted behind the Hawkeye back line. Inside the 18, Wasserman's shot was denied by a leaping goalkeeper and clanged off the crossbar and was cleared by Iowa.
- The Nittany Lions defense continually held off Hawkeye attacks as they attempted to tie the match.
- Asman recorded a pair of saves in the second half, none bigger than her save in the 81st minute. An Iowa forward collected a pass in front of the goal and Asman came off her line to make a sliding save to keep the shutout intact.
- This save secured the 1-0 win for Penn State and extended the unbeaten streak to eight games for Penn State.
Notes
- Ally Schlegel scored the 20th goal of her career in the 1-0 win. The Nittany Lions have three players that have scored 20 or more goals in their career (Coffey – 34, Tagliaferri – 20, Schlegel – 20).
- The shutout was Asman's third of her Penn State career.
- Penn State improved to 26-2 all-time against Iowa.
- Penn State's #9 national ranking is the highest since Penn State opened the 2019 season as #6.