UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The No. 2 seed Penn State women's soccer program used a total team effort to shut out No. 7 seed West Virginia, 4-0, in the NCAA Championship Second Round on Friday at Jeffrey Field.
"I look at the balance of the night and there were so many positives that came out of this night," head coach Erica Dambach said. "There were so many players that stepped up and made big plays…Just the overall attitude when that weather started rolling in and the smiles on the team's face, you could just tell they felt so prepared and so ready to go regardless of what was going on around them."
The win advances Penn State to its sixth straight Sweet 16 appearance as the Nittany Lions will host No. 3 seed Virginia on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 5 p.m. on Jeffrey Field.
PSU is now 15-4-3 overall and delivers WVU its first loss since Oct. 13 when the Mountaineers fell to Texas 1-2 during the regular season. WVU finishes the season 11-5-7 and as Big 12 Tournament Champions.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite a snow squall occurring right before kickoff, the Nittany Lions started off hot, as senior Payton Linnehan scored just 18 seconds into the match assisted by senior Kate Wiesner and junior Natalie Wilson.
23 seconds later, WVU made a dangerous cross that was quickly wrapped up by PSU keeper redshirt senior Katherine Asman.
Asman did her part to keep PSU ahead, making a save at point blank range off a WVU corner kick in the 34thminute.
WVU continued to put on the pressure, out-shooting PSU five to one in the first half, but the Nittany Lions went into halftime with the 1-0 advantage.
Linnehan said, "One of the things we talked about at halftime was how dangerous a 1-0 score line is. We're both fighting for our whole seasons, so we knew that they were going to come out hard and fast, and I think we put a dagger in that pretty early and then just kept going all the way to the end."
Out of the half, PSU made adjustments and went back on the attack.
After a pair of corners and a pair of shots, PSU would connect on their third shot of the second half.
In the 56th minute, Wilson collected a free kick opportunity after being fouled. Sophomore Mieke Schiemann booted the ball to midfield catching Wiesner. Wiesner drove up the field splitting defenders before passing the ball to senior+ Penelope Hocking.
Hocking slotted a left footed shot past the keeper for the 2-0 PSU lead.
Over a minute later, PSU struck again. Linnehan went down in the box awarding PSU a penalty kick. Senior Cori Dyke took the shot and put the ball into the net making it 3-0 Penn State.
Not done yet, PSU maintained pressure, and in the 69th minute, freshman Amelia White would score her first career goal off a Wiesner free kick that was headed down by Schiemann perfectly placed for the awaiting White.
Dambach said of White, "Freshman year is hard and especially when there's big expectations coming in, and I think she has handled those expectations incredibly well, and I've watched her just invest in the process and get better and better and better, and to be rewarded tonight, I couldn't be happier for her. She deserves it all and so much more."
Wiesner's assist on the White goal was her third and notched a single-game career high for the senior.
The 79th minute saw senior+ Morgan Messner take over goalkeeping duties. She would preserve the combined clean sheet, making a huge save in the 86th minute.
The Nittany Lions did not let off the gas, continuing to test WVU's keeper with a flurry of shots until the horn sounded for the Penn State victory.
UP NEXT
The No. 2 seed Nittany Lions return to Jeffrey Field at 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20 as they will host No. 3 seed Virginia in the Sweet 16. The winner advances to the Elite Eight.
