UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 12 Penn State women’s soccer took an early two-goal lead in the first half and battled through the remainder of the match to seal a 2-1 victory over the Columbia Lions on Sunday at Jeffrey Field, with the Blue & White honoring 11 senior student-athletes and two graduating student managers following the victorious outing in the team’s annual Senior Day presented by the Penn State Alumni Association.
Following Sunday’s victory over the Lions, PSU honored the careers of Olivia Damico, Jordan Fusco, Kaitlyn MacBean, Devon Olive, Rowan Lapi, Elle Kershner, Mieke Schiemann, Kara Ogden and Natalie Wilson, in addition to senior student managers Zach Albright and Griffin Lee. Penn State’s senior day honorees were instrumental in the program’s continued success at the highest levels of collegiate soccer, with the group combining for a 79-27-11 overall record over the course of their time in Happy Valley. PSU’s graduating class has participated in five consecutive NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances, won a trio of Big Ten Conference championships and made the team’s deepest NCAA Tournament run since 2018 by reaching the Elite Eight a season ago.
The win brought Penn State’s overall season record to 7-1-1 overall, with the Nittany Lions wielding a 1-0-0 start to the Big Ten Conference season following a 6-0 thrashing of the Michigan Wolverines earlier this week. PSU’s 6-1-1 non-conference record is one of the program’s strongest marks in recent memory, with the Blue & White facing off against five opponents that were either ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll at the time of the match. The Blue & White notched their first all-time win over Columbia in the first-ever meeting of the two foes, simultaneously improving to 18-4-0 against Ivy League opponents all-time. The Lions fell to 1-3-3 overall following Sunday’s defeat and will close out their non-conference ledger next Friday night against Providence at home in New York City.
Penn State and Columbia battled in a relatively close affair for much of Sunday afternoon’s contest, with the Nittany Lions narrowly defeating CU in total shot attempts by a 9-8 margin. The Lions logged five shots on goal to Penn State’s two, and also came away with the victory in the corner kick competition, racking up an 8-4 differential in the statistic. Columbia was slightly more aggressive in their challenges, booking 13 fouls against Penn State’s eight, but both programs managed to vacate Jeffrey Field without finding their way into the official’s book.
Fusco stole the show on Penn State’s senior day, with the Tennessee transfer notching the only Nittany Lion score in the run of play. The Olmsted Township, Ohio, native found the back of the net for her third goal of the 2024 season in addition to her second match in a row with a goal, bringing her season scoring total up to 11 total points when adding her quintet of assists this year. Schiemann also worked her way onto the scoresheet with a penalty kick goal late in the first half, notching her second-straight goal in the process. MacBean, a native of Excelsior, Minnesota, mustered her first assist of the 2024 season and marked her second-straight match with at least one point, bringing her scoring total up to 19 points entering the final 10 matches of the year.
Between the pipes for the Blue & White, redshirt junior goalkeeper Amanda Poorbaugh matched her career high in saves with a quartet of stops and secured her seventh-consecutive unbeaten decision in goal. The Westerville, Ohio, native climbed to 6-1-1 overall on the season after picking up her second straight victory following Thursday’s demolition of Michigan at home on Jeffrey Field. For the Lions, Lauren Rodriguez started the match and allowed Penn State’s only two scores on the day, with the senior keeper being saddled for the loss in the process. Out of halftime, Columbia submitted Samantha Mahoney into the lineup, who played 45 minutes of scoreless soccer without facing a PSU shot on goal.
Penn State continued its stretch of electric first-half play on Sunday, as the Nittany Lions tallied twice to take a lead into the second half for the seventh time in the 2024 campaign. The scoring opened up for PSU in the 16th minute, as the Columbia keeper punted the ball out of her own 18 towards midfield, with the ball landing on a Nittany Lion head to spark a dangerous scoring opportunity. MacBean collected the ball and battled through a diving challenge from Columbia’s defender to feed the ball left to a sprinting Fusco, who took a pair of dribbles with her left foot en route to the edge of the Lion box. With plenty of time to process the play, Fusco pelted a right-footed blast into the back right corner of the Columbia net past a diving Rodriguez for the opening tally.
Later on in the 38th minute, a dangerous free kick opportunity in the Columbia final third saw redshirt junior midfielder Julia Raich stand over the ball and deliver a service into the box for Kershner, who flicked the ball up with her foot onto the arm of a Lion defender. After a VAR check, the officials awarded a penalty, which was swiftly converted into the back of the net by Schiemann. Following the Berlin, Germany, native’s second goal of the season, the Nittany Lion defense locked in and closed out the remainder of the half with a two-goal advantage.
Out of the halftime intermission, neither team was able to seize on any major scoring opportunities, with the squads combining for eight total shots out of the intermission. Columbia managed to rack up five attempts against Penn State’s three, but high-quality chances remained hard to come by on both ends of the pitch. Trouble came for PSU in the 84th minute, as the Nittany Lions played the ball back to the keeper to stymie a Lion chance. An errant pass gave way to senior midfielder Nata Ramirez just inside the edge of the 18, with the veteran chipping PSU’s shot-stopper to find the only Columbia score of the match. Penn State locked things down over the remaining six minutes to secure the 2-1 victory, celebrating the win with the program’s annual Senior Day festivities moments later.
SCORING SUMMARY
16’ – Rodriguez punted the ball out of her own 18 towards midfield, with the ball landing on a Nittany Lion head to spark a dangerous scoring opportunity. MacBean collected the ball and battled through a diving challenge from Columbia’s defender to feed the ball left to a sprinting Fusco, who took a pair of dribbles with her left foot en route to the edge of the Lion box. With plenty of time to process the play, Fusco pelted a right-footed blast into the back right corner of the Columbia net past a diving Rodriguez for the opening tally. PSU 1, CU 0
38’ – A dangerous free kick opportunity in the Columbia final third saw Raich stand over the ball and deliver a service into the box for Kershner, who flicked the ball up with her foot onto the arm of a Lion defender. After a VAR check, the officials awarded a penalty, which was swiftly converted into the back of the net by Schiemann. PSU 2, CU 0
84’ – Penn State played the ball back to the Nittany Lion goalkeeper, but an errant outlet pass saw Ramirez assume possession once more just inside the edge of the 18. The veteran midfielder chipped the PSU keeper from the edge of the box to find the only Columbia score on the afternoon. PSU 2, CU 1
UP NEXT
No. 12 Penn State women's soccer continues its four-match homestand and resumes Big Ten Conference competition on Thursday, September 19, as the Nittany Lions welcome the Northwestern Wildcats to Jeffrey Field for a 7 p.m. (ET) fixture. The match will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app.
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