UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 6 Penn State women's soccer utilized a pair of set piece goals scored by junior defender Mieke Schiemann, in addition to a late insurance goal tacked on by sophomore midfielder Olivia Borgen to bring home a 3-0 victory over the Princeton Tigers Thursday night on Jeffrey Field.
The 30th varsity team in Penn State women's soccer history etched its name in the Nittany Lion record book following the win, becoming just the second squad in program annals to go undefeated through the non-conference portion of its regular season schedule. PSU last accomplished this feat in 2005, a team that went on to publish a 23-0-2 record, book a perfect 10-0-0 ledger in Big Ten play and reach the Women's College Cup for the third time in school history. Penn State also continued its dominant stretch of results on Jeffrey Field, outscoring its opponent by a 17-1 margin while building a 5-0-1 record in the friendly confines this season.
Overall, the Blue & White climb to 6-0-1 on the 2023 campaign highlighted by victories in each of the squad's last six matches dating to an August 20 win over West Chester. The streak marks the longest stretch of consecutive Nittany Lion victories since the 2020-21 team logged six straight in the COVID-maligned all-Big Ten spring campaign. In the all-time series with the Tigers, the Nittany Lions improved to 2-0 following the second meeting in program history. PSU's last defeat of Princeton came in the 2002 NCAA Tournament on the road in College Park, Maryland. The loss drops previously unbeaten Princeton to 3-1-1 this season.
On the stat sheet, the Berlin, Germany, native Schiemann found herself making headlines once again, logging the first brace of her collegiate career while scoring her second and third goals this season, respectively. Schiemann moves into the top spot on the Penn State roster with three goals scored in 2023, joining Borgen at the top of the leaderboard. One of the most balanced attacks in college soccer, Penn State boasts seven student-athletes with at least two goals scored this season, while an additional six Nittany Lions have mustered at least two assists. Senior defender Eva Alonso dished out a pair of assists on the evening, while redshirt sophomore midfielder Riley Gleason and senior+ defender Kate Wiesner each booked one.
Thursday night's final score belies what was a truly competitive contest by both squads. For the third time this season, Penn State's opponent managed to attempt more shots in the contest, with the Tigers launching 11 chances and PSU logging nine. Princeton also notched one more shot on goal in the match, outpacing the Nittany Lions by a 6-2 margin. The corner kick battle fell in line with the run of play, as Penn State secured a quintet of corner kick attempts to Princeton's zero. PSU held its opponent without a corner kick chance for the first time all season and won the corner kick battle for the fourth time overall.
Graduate goalkeeper Katherine Asman was spotless between the posts, recording a season-high six saves in 90 minutes of action en route to her fourth shutout of the year. The Roswell, Georgia, native has now amassed 23 saves overall and allowed just one goal through the conclusion of the non-conference calendar, culminating in a Big Ten-best save percentage of 0.958. Asman assumed sole possession of fifth place in Nittany Lion history with 22 career shutouts, moved into fourth all-time at PSU in terms of goalie minutes played with 6,144, and tied with Nittany Lion legend Amanda Dennis for fourth all-time in career goalkeeper wins after notching her 45th. For Princeton, junior keeper Tyler McCamey was saddled with the loss after allowing three goals against two saves in 90 minutes.
The first eight minutes of the match featured an attacking onslaught by the offensively-inclined Tigers, with Princeton attempting the first three shots of the contest, including a pair of on-target attempts that were corralled by Asman in the sixth and seventh minutes, respectively. PSU came alive moments later, winning a throw in on the near side of the field and attacking centrally from there. Senior+ forward Payton Linnehan drew a crucial free kick, and Alonso lined up around 35 yards out to attempt PSU's first set piece of the day.
Alonso booted a pinpoint service across the field and into the penalty area, where Schiemann and a slew of Tiger defenders charged toward the goal mouth. Schiemann elevated her right foot to meet the ball in the air, crushing her first goal of the evening into the back left corner of the net past McCamey's reach. Princeton managed another on-target chance on a free kick in the 19th minute, but Asman hauled in her third save of the night to that point to maintain PSU's edge. The Nittany Lions earned a trio of corner kick attempts in a two-minute span but failed to put an insurance goal on the board before the halftime break.
Out of the intermission, Penn State returned to battle determined to add its second score. A shot on goal from redshirt junior forward Kaitlyn MacBean was saved out of bounds by McCamey, resulting in the fourth Nittany Lion corner kick of the night. Gleason stepped into the near corner and fed her service inside the six-yard box, where Scheimann was once again in the right place at the right time. The defender timed her jump and headed her second goal of the night behind her into the top right corner of the net.
With a two-score lead in hand, Penn State settled in on the back line and played dominant defense for the vast majority of the second half, still hunting for attacking opportunities when presented. Exemplary efforts on the wings from Wiesner and first-time freshman starter Kaelyn Wolfe kept the Princeton attack scoreless for the first time this year while limiting the reigning United Soccer Coaches Player of the Week, Pietra Tordin, to just one shot on goal.
As the match neared its end, Wiesner collected the ball in PSU's defending final third and pelted it to a waiting Alonso at the midfield line. Alonso's pass was chipped deep into the Princeton half, where Borgen assumed possession of the ball and charged down the right side of the field. With McCamey off her line, Borgen launched a chip shot from the edge of the 18 into the middle of an open net, scoring the third Nittany Lion goal in the 84th minute of action. The final six minutes passed without incident, and Penn State hauled in its sixth straight victory in addition to its first unbeaten non-conference season in 18 years.
SCORING SUMMARY
9' – Alonso booted a pinpoint service across the field and into the penalty area, where Schiemann and a slew of Tiger defenders charged toward the goal mouth. Schiemann elevated her right foot to meet the ball in the air, crushing her first goal of the evening into the back left corner of the net. PSU 1, PRIN 0
46' – Gleason stepped into the near corner and fed her service inside the six-yard box, where Scheimann timed her jump and headed her second goal of the night behind her into the top right corner of the net. PSU 2, PRIN 0
84' – Wiesner collected the ball in PSU's defending final third and pelted it to a waiting Alonso at the midfield line. Alonso's pass was chipped deep into the Princeton half, where Borgen collected the ball and charged down the right side of the field. With McCamey off her line, Borgen launched a chip shot from the edge of the penalty area into the middle of an open goal. PSU 3, PRIN 0
UP NEXT
No. 6 Penn State women's soccer takes an eight-day hiatus from play before it opens Big Ten Conference competition on Friday, Sept. 16 with a 6 p.m. fixture against the Maryland Terrapins. The match will conclude Penn State's five-match homestand that started against TCU on Aug. 27 and will also serve as the program's senior day celebration. 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.
