UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 6 Penn State women's soccer put on a clinic Friday evening at Jeffrey Field, dismantling the Maryland Terrapins by a 4-0 margin on senior night in the Nittany Lions' Big Ten-opening contest.
With the victory, Penn State sees its season record improve to 7-0-1 overall and 1-0-0 in B1G action, PSU's longest unbeaten opening to a campaign since the 2005 squad published an unblemished 23-0-2 season. The Blue & White saw continued dominance in the all-time series with Maryland, cruising in the 20th all-time meeting and moving to 16-4 against the Terps since the two programs first squared off in the 1996 campaign. Penn State is now unbeaten against Maryland in each of the last 10 meetings, dating to the Terrapins' last win in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. In defeat, Maryland falls to 3-2-4 overall and 0-0-1 in the league.
Friday night's domineering result saw the Nittany Lions haul in their seventh-straight victory, marking the longest win streak by any PSU women's soccer team since the 2019 squad won 11 in a row from Oct. 6 to Nov. 22. Penn State earned a victory in its Big Ten opener for the first time since the 2018 team published an identical 4-0 result over the Ohio State Buckeyes on Jeffrey Field. The Blue & White climb to 22-5-3 all-time and 10-5-2 in Big Ten-opening contests since head coach Erica Dambach assumed the top job in Happy Valley back in 2007.
Penn State stuffed the stat sheet Friday night, eviscerating Maryland in every statistical category highlighted by a 27-2 overall differential on the shot chart. Penn State notched 12 shots on goal in the match and yielded zero on-target attempts from the Terrapins, marking the second instance of PSU holding its opponent to a goose egg in the category. The last time Penn State allowed zero shots on goal was the program's Aug. 20 meeting against the West Chester Golden Rams which resulted in an 8-0 Nittany Lion win. PSU racked up 11 corner kick attempts in the contest, the team's second double-digit corner kick outing in 2023, and surrendered only one Maryland try.
On an individual basis, Penn State once again utilized a balanced attack to steamroll its opponent. Senior+ defender Kate Wiesner, senior defender Ellie Wheeler, sophomore midfielder Olivia Borgen and senior forward Rebecca Cooke all found the back of the net Friday evening, with Wheeler and Wiesner becoming the 11th and 12th goal scorers for Penn State in 2023, respectively. Senior defender Eva Alonso was a passing machine against the Terps, booking three assists in the match. Alonso notched the 15th instance of a Nittany Lion passing for three assists all-time, and became the first to accomplish that feat since Wiesner did so in the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament against West Virginia.
Between the pipes, Penn State saw graduate goalkeeper Katherine Asman record her 72nd career appearance in net, playing 81 minutes without having to record a single save. Asman faced two shots overall on the night with neither on target, ultimately earning credit for the keeper win that pushed her individual record to 7-0-1 on the year. Redshirt freshman goalie Mackenzie Gress earned her first career minutes against a Big Ten challenger, closing out the remaining nine ticks without incident. For Maryland, junior shot-stopper Liz Beardsley played all 90 minutes and logged nine saves against four goals allowed.
The Nittany Lions wasted no time establishing control of the match early, with the Blue & White securing their first two corner kicks in the first six minutes of competition. PSU's second corner of the night in the sixth spelled early trouble for the Terrapins, as redshirt sophomore Riley Gleason's service sailed into the penalty area. Alonso headed the ball back for Wiesner, whose one-timer from the edge of the 18 flew into the back left corner of the Maryland net past Beardsley's reach. With the first score of the night on the board, the Terps immediately sought an opportunity to level the score.
A Maryland throw in the defensive final third led to a breakaway opportunity for Terrapin freshman defender Kennedy Bell, but her shot attempt remained on the pitch and rolled past the goal mouth to the left for a PSU goal kick. Penn State continued to pepper the Maryland backline and goalkeeper with spectacular scoring opportunities as the half wore on, with the Nittany Lions booking back-to-back shots on goal in the 14th and 16th minutes that were safely corralled by Beardsley. The Blue & White remained opportunistic but had to settle for a one-goal advantage at the break.
PSU and Maryland submitted their halftime substitutions and returned to work for the start of the second half, with the Terrapins bringing added energy as the period began. After both teams settled back into play, Penn State's dominance was once again put on display. In the 60th minute of work, Alonso fed the ball to Wheeler on the right side of the field. The Fairfax Station, Virginia, native took a few dribbles to the far right corner of the penalty box and pelted a quick-rolling shot on the ground into the bottom left corner of the Terrapin net. Wheeler's first goal of the 2023 season gave the Blue & White a 2-0 lead.
Around nine minutes later, the Nittany Lions struck again, with Alonso tapping the ball at the edge of the 18 through traffic with her right foot towards a waiting Borgen. The sophomore worked into a clearing between a pair of Terrapin defenders and unleashed a magnificent shot from 12 yards out that worked its way into the top of the Maryland goal in the 71st. A multitude of Nittany Lion substitutions took the field in the aftermath of PSU's third goal, but the reserves maintained the offensive hunger that powered the first 80 minutes. A brilliant move from Cooke allowed Penn State to work the ball deep into the Maryland penalty box, with a high-arching Nittany Lion shot creating traffic outside the goal mouth. Cooke worked into position and headed in the second goal of her PSU career to finalize the 4-0 result.
SCORING SUMMARY
7' – Gleason's service sailed into the penalty area and Alonso headed the ball back for Wiesner, whose one-timer from the edge of the 18 flew into the back left corner of the Maryland net past Beardsley's reach. PSU 1, UMD 0
60' – Alonso fed the ball to Wheeler on the right side of the field, where she took a few dribbles to the far right corner of the penalty box and pelted a quick-rolling shot on the ground into the bottom left corner of the net. PSU 2, UMD 0
71' – Alonso tapped the ball at the edge of the 18 through traffic with her right foot towards a waiting Borgen. The sophomore worked into a clearing between a pair of Terrapin defenders and unleashed a magnificent shot from 12 yards out that worked its way into the top of the Maryland goal. PSU 3, UMD 0
83' – A brilliant move from Cooke allowed Penn State to work the ball deep into the Maryland penalty box, with a high-arching Nittany Lion shot creating traffic outside the goal mouth. Cooke worked into position and headed in the second goal of her PSU career. PSU 4, UMD 0
UP NEXT
No. 6 Penn State women's soccer hits the road for the first time in Big Ten Conference play, and first time overall since visiting the West Virginia Mountaineers on Aug. 24. The Nittany Lions face off against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Thursday, Sept. 21, with kickoff from Yurcak Field slated for 7 p.m. Streaming is available to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State women's soccer. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion women's soccer team on X and Instagram @PennStateWSOC, in addition to the team's Facebook page at /PSUWomensSoccer.
The 30th Season of Penn State women's soccer is presented by the Smeal College of Business.
