ST. LOUIS – In one of the most anticipated matches of the 2024 season, the No. 12 Penn State women’s soccer team jumped ahead early and never looked back, as a brace from redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean powered the Nittany Lions to a 2-1 victory in their road opener over the No. 19 Saint Louis Billikens from Robert R. Hermann Stadium.
For MacBean, her dominant stretch of performances dating to last year’s NCAA Tournament continued Sunday afternoon, with the Excelsior, Minnesota, native logging her seventh and eighth goals of the year respectively, while moving up to five goals in the past four days following her performance in eastern Missouri. The Nittany Lion striker published one of the most dominant weeks of work in recent Penn State history while recording just the fourth multi-goal match in her collegiate career.
MacBean needs just two more goals to match and three to surpass the best statistical season of her Nittany Lion journey, booking eight scores through five matches compared to 10 goals across 23 appearances in 2023. With her scores against the Billikens on Sunday, MacBean ensured that she would take sole ownership of the No. 3 spot in the Nittany Lion record book for consecutive matches with a goal, finding the back of the net in each of her last eight appearances. MacBean is just the second woman in Penn State history to record a streak of eight or more consecutive matches with a goal, trailing Nittany Lion legend and NCAA Division I record holder Tiffany Weimer, who logged a 13-match streak in 2004 followed by a 17-match run in 2005.
Penn State booked its third consecutive victory Sunday afternoon, as well as its fourth win overall through five contests in 2024, moving to 4-1-0 following its weekend trip through the Gateway to the West. In defeat, Saint Louis falls for the first time in 2024 and moves to 2-1-2 through its inaugural quintet of outings this year. The Nittany Lions improved to 19-0 all-time against current Atlantic 10 Conference member institutions while picking up the program’s second all-time win over the Billikens, with Sunday’s finish joining a 4-3 overtime victory in the 2023 NCAA Tournament Round of 16 from Jeffrey Field. PSU and SLU’s budding rivalry in women’s soccer currently favors the Nittany Lions by a 2-0-0 margin, as well as a 6-4 goal differential following Sunday’s effort.
The box score tells the tale of a hyper-competitive, nationally ranked non-conference clash, with the home squad narrowly edging the visiting Blue & White in total shot attempts by a 16-15 margin. In terms of shots on target, however, Penn State dominated the stat sheet with a doubling of SLU’s chances, winning the battle 8-4 overall. Saint Louis took the corner kick contest by a 9-4 margin, marking just the second loss for Penn State in the corner competition in 2024. Bookings occurred for both squads on Sunday, with the Nittany Lions picking up a trio of cautions while the host Billikens were shown yellow for unsporting behavior in the 75th minute.
In addition to yet another exemplary outing from MacBean, multiple Nittany Lions added to their early season resumes with stellar performances in St. Louis. Junior forward Amelia White was dominant on the ball in Sunday’s nationally ranked showdown, cranking a pair of dangerous shots on goal in addition to her first assist of the 2024 season coming on MacBean’s lid-lifter in the third minute of play. Senior midfielder Jordan Fusco also extended her impressive streak of performances with an assist, marking her third consecutive match with at least one dish dating to the 5-0 Nittany Lion win over West Chester. Fusco is up to five assists on the 2024 campaign, with the Olmsted Township, Ohio, native averaging an impressive one feed per contest.
In goal for the Nittany Lions, redshirt junior shot-stopper Amanda Poorbaugh logged a trio of highlight-reel saves, finishing the day with a trio of stops against a single goal allowed. Poorbaugh, a native of Westerville, Ohio, was tasked with defending against a career-high 16 opponent shot attempts, notching her third consecutive win following her fourth-straight 90-minute effort between the pipes. On the opposite end of the pitch, graduate Billiken goalkeeper Emily Puricelli stood in the way of a Nittany Lion blowout, with the veteran keeper preventing a sure-fire MacBean hat trick on multiple occasions. The SLU keeper finished with six saves and two goals allowed across her complete match showing.
The Billikens were solid in possession over the opening 90 seconds of the match, capitalizing on a familiar home atmosphere to establish some threatening opportunities in the early going. Unconcerned by the unfamiliar environment, PSU responded with a pair of goals in the first 13 minutes of competition. In the third minute, a dangerous attacking opportunity presented itself down the left side of the pitch, with White sparking an impressive run across midfield. SLU managed to temporarily regain possession in the neutral third of the field, but a Billiken turnover saw the ball land on Fusco’s boot. A light touch put the ball in White’s possession, with the Nittany Lion feeding the ball forward to MacBean on the lefthand side of the 18. MacBean took an additional dribble in the box and delivered a left-booted finish into the back right corner of the Billiken net to establish early Penn State momentum.
That momentum carried forward through much of the early going, with PSU peppering the Saint Louis woodwork on five occasions before the Billikens had an opportunity in their own attacking third. Little time passed before the Blue & White found the back of the net once more, as disciplined possession from the Nittany Lion back line around midfield gave way for yet another prime scoring chance, with the ball working its way up the right side of the pitch thanks to work from graduate midfielder Olivia Damico and Fusco. The latter attacking midfielder battled toward the right corner of the pitch and outworked a Billiken defender, delivering a left-footed feed to MacBean centrally around 10 yards away from the goal mouth. MacBean spun off her defender and placed a left-footed finish into the bottom left corner of the goal for her fifth goal of the week and second on the day.
The remainder of the first half passed largely without incident, with the most dangerous Saint Louis scoring opportunity coming just before the halftime whistle, but Poorbaugh managed to deflect the ball out of harm’s way and preserve the 2-0 Nittany Lion lead heading into the break. Saint Louis came out of the intermission reinvigorated, with the Billikens managing to cut into the sport’s most dangerous lead thanks to a penalty kick opportunity in the 47th minute that made it 2-1 in PSU’s favor. The Nittany Lions remained steadfast in their defense for the majority of the second half, but the Billikens would earn yet another penalty kick opportunity on an alleged foul in the 79th. Saint Louis’ final shot on goal in the match from the penalty spot would roll right of the Nittany Lion net, with the Blue & White locking things down over the final 10 minutes to bring a 2-1 victory on the flight home to Happy Valley.
SCORING SUMMARY
3’ – A dangerous attacking opportunity presented itself down the left side of the pitch, with White sparking an impressive run across midfield. SLU managed to temporarily regain possession in the neutral third of the field, but a Billiken turnover saw the ball land on Fusco’s boot. A light touch put the ball in White’s possession, with the Nittany Lion feeding the ball forward to MacBean on the lefthand side of the 18. MacBean took an additional dribble in the box and delivered a left-booted finish into the back right corner of the Billiken net. PSU 1, SLU 0
13’ – Disciplined possession from the Nittany Lion back line around midfield gave way for yet another prime scoring chance for the Blue & White, with the ball working its way up the right side of the pitch thanks to work from Damico and Fusco. The latter attacking midfielder battled toward the right corner of the pitch and outworked a Billiken defender, delivering a left-footed feed to MacBean centrally around 10 yards away from the goal mouth. MacBean spun off her defender and placed a left-footed finish into the bottom left corner of the goal for her fifth goal of the week and second on the day. PSU 2, SLU 0
47’ – Facing intense Billiken pressure in the box, an errant Nittany Lion hand found the ball and resulted in a Saint Louis penalty kick. Graduate midfielder Elise Le was called on to convert the penalty, finding the back left portion of the net off her right foot. PSU 2, SLU 1
UP NEXT
No. 12 Penn State women’s soccer continues a challenging three-match road slate this Thursday, September 5, as the Nittany Lions square off against the Princeton Tigers on the road from Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. (ET), with the match set to stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
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