EVANSTON, Ill. – Sophomore midfielder Olivia Borgen notched her first collegiate brace, graduate goalkeeper Katherine Asman tied her career high in saves and the No. 4 Penn State women's soccer team scrapped for a shorthanded 2-2 draw against the Northwestern Wildcats Sunday evening at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium.
After notching its second result of the weekend, Penn State moves to 11-0-4 overall on the 2023 campaign with a 5-0-3 mark against Big Ten Conference competitors entering the final week of the regular season. PSU remains alone atop the Big Ten standings through its final road trip of the year, currently maintaining 18 points while Indiana, Nebraska and Michigan State each sit one point back with 17 after notching respective 5-1-2 league records through eight contests. Northwestern moves to 8-4-4 overall and 2-4-2 in B1G play.
By virtue of their 65-plus minutes with a woman-up advantage, Northwestern understandably picked up victories in multiple statistical categories. The Wildcats assembled a striking 28-4 edge on the shot chart, with PSU only able to muster one formal shot attempt following the official's red card call in the 24th minute. The Blue & White were considerably more efficient in their scoring opportunities, finding the back of the net on their only two shots on goal in the contest. Northwestern tallied 13 shots on goal in total, with only one managed in the run of play. The Wildcats also narrowly snagged a win in the corner kick competition, outpacing PSU by a slim 4-3 edge.
Borgen led the way offensively for the Nittany Lions, recording the first multi-goal outing of her collegiate career while moving into the top spot on the team's roster in total goals scored this season with six. The sophomore from Hanson, Massachusetts, also managed to match her career high in shots on goal with two, tying her performance against West Chester on Aug. 20 of this season. Redshirt junior forward Kaitlyn MacBean added her name to the box score with her first assist of the 2023 campaign, marking her second collegiate assist and first since logging one against Illinois on Sept. 25 of last year.
Tasked with one of the most difficult assignments of her collegiate career, Asman stood tall and registered one of the most dominant performances between the posts at Penn State in recent memory. The Roswell, Georgia, native recorded 11 saves in the match, tying her career high in the category. Asman's only other 11-save outing in her career came in an NCAA Tournament appearance against USC on Nov. 19, 2021. Her performance against Northwestern saw her tie for eighth in the Penn State record book for the most saves in a single match in program history.
In the process of preserving a crucial point for the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten standings, Asman also managed to set a conference season high in saves, outperforming the league's previous season-best mark of nine set by six different keepers. The graduate team captain became the first Big Ten shot-stopper to reach the 10-save threshold since Nebraska keeper Samantha Hauk logged 13 saves on Oct. 20 of last season, while simultaneously becoming the first Big Ten goalkeeper to record two career performances with 11-or-more saves since at least 2020.
The match began with a steady feeling-out process, as both offenses settled into the contest through the first 15 minutes of action. Northwestern utilized its home-field advantage to rack up a quick 6-2 edge in total shots, but only one of the Wildcat attempts was accurate enough to be saved by Asman. PSU weathered the early storm and created some havoc of their own on the offensive end as Borgen won a ball near the far touchline on the attacking half of the field. She threaded the ball forward to MacBean, who executed a perfect give-and-go with Borgen that placed the sophomore standout in a one-on-one position against the keeper. Borgen utilized a firm left-footed touch to find the back of the net and give Penn State an early 1-0 advantage.
PSU would quickly find itself in a massive deficit, as the Wildcats flipped the script following Penn State's icebreaker and won what appeared to be a penalty kick on the opposite end of the pitch. Senior defender Eva Alonso was initially shown a yellow card from the official for pulling a Wildcat jersey in the box, but VAR from the Big Ten officiating crew determined that a red card was in order for denying a goal-scoring chance. Ella Hase buried the penalty kick into the back left corner of the net to equalize the score and managed to tally once more in the 32nd with assists credited to Ingrid Falls and Aurea del Carmen. Northwestern would take a 2-1 lead into the halftime intermission.
Confronted with a one-goal deficit and one-player disadvantage, the Nittany Lions refused to accept defeat coming out of the locker room for the second half of play. Less than five minutes passed before Penn State would find the equalizer. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Julia Raich tapped the ball forward in a two-on-four situation, finding Borgen at the right edge of the penalty arc. Borgen moved to her left and turned on the jets outside the perimeter of the 18, ultimately outpacing her Northwestern defender into the box and demolishing a left-footed shot into the top center of the net. Tied at two goals apiece, PSU's back line withstood 12 second-half shots and Asman mustered three saves in the last 10 minutes to preserve the 2-2 tie and top spot in the B1G table.
SCORING SUMMARY
19' – Borgen won a ball near the far touchline and threaded the ball forward to MacBean, who executed a perfect give-and-go that placed Borgen in a one-on-one position against the keeper. Borgen utilized a firm left-footed touch to find the back of the net. PSU 1, NU 0
24' – Northwestern was provided with a penalty kick opportunity that Hase converted. PSU 1, NU 1
32' – Falls and del Carmen found Hase, who utilized a left-footed attempt to find the bottom right corner of the goal past Asman's reach. NU 2, PSU 1
51' – Borgen moved to her left and turned on the jets outside the perimeter of the 18, ultimately outpacing her Northwestern defender into the box and demolishing a left-footed shot into the top center of the net. PSU 2, NU 2
UP NEXT
No. 4 Penn State women's soccer returns to Happy Valley for its final regular season homestand of the 2023 campaign, as the Nittany Lions welcome the Indiana Hoosiers to Jeffrey Field on Thursday, Oct. 19. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. (ET), with streaming 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.
