UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 9 Penn State women’s soccer battled for 90 minutes and largely outplayed their opponents, but a tally against the run of play in the third minute afforded No. 5 Michigan State a tightly-contested 1-0 victory over the Nittany Lions Sunday afternoon on Jeffrey Field. PSU welcomed a season-best 2,045 fans into the stands, highlighted by the program’s annual 11v100 match at halftime featuring the Centre Soccer Association.
Following Sunday afternoon’s result, the Nittany Lions dropped to 8-2-1 overall through their first 11 contests of the 2024 campaign, moving to 2-1-0 against Big Ten Conference opponents in the process. Michigan State extended their unbeaten start to the season and improved to 8-0-2 overall with an unblemished 3-0-0 start to league action with additional wins over Maryland and Nebraska. In the all-time series, Michigan State notched its second all-time win on Jeffrey Field, but the Nittany Lions continue to maintain a dominant 26-7-0 lead on the Spartans dating to the first all-time meeting in 1994.
The Blue & White were far more effective in generating quality looks on goal than their opponents, racking up a stark 18-12 shot differential against their nationally ranked challenger while simultaneously dismantling the Spartans by an 11-4 tally on goal. Penn State’s front-line student-athletes won nine corner kicks on the day, with the Michigan State attack also generating nine such chances. The top 10 matchup lived up to the billing in terms of physicality, with MSU committing 12 fouls against eight for the Nittany Lions. Michigan State was the only squad in the referee’s book on Sunday, with goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks earning a yellow for dissent in the 65th minute.
On an individual basis, the Nittany Lions saw a quartet of student-athletes attempt multiple shots, highlighted by four chances apiece from redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean and graduate forward Rebecca Cooke. Senior defender Mieke Schiemann logged a trio of shot attempts, as well as two thunderous shots on goal that were ultimately corralled by MSU’s Parks. Senior midfielder Jordan Fusco contributed a pair of shots on goal in the match as well, with both opportunities saved by the Spartans. Four Nittany Lion fielders played all 90 minutes on Sunday, with redshirt sophomore midfielder Molly Martin, redshirt sophomore defender Kayleigh Herr and graduate defender Ginger Fontenot joining Schiemann with that distinction.
In goal for the Nittany Lions, redshirt junior goalkeeper Amanda Poorbaugh was effective in her 90 minutes of effort on Sunday, turning back a trio of Spartan shots on goal while surrendering just her sixth goal of the 2024 campaign. Poorbaugh, a native of Westerville, Ohio, suffered her second loss of the season and moved to 7-2-1 individually this year. For Michigan State, Parks tallied all 90 minutes between the pipes and contributed a career-high 11 saves to preserve the Spartan result. MSU’s last line of defense moved to 6-0-2 overall in her final season of collegiate eligibility.
Michigan State wasted little time offensively out of the gates, with the Spartans managing to find the only score of the match in the third minute of action. Penn State weathered an early attacking opportunity from the Spartans, but a ricochet off a Nittany Lion’s back found the foot of Mueller. The Michigan State midfielder played the ball back to Gaynor at the edge of the penalty arc, who utilized a right-footed blast to sneak through the PSU back line and into the back right corner of the goal. With the 1-0 lead in hand, the Blue & White regrouped and battled back to generate a 9-6 differential in shot attempts at the break, but the Spartans returned to the dressing room with a 1-0 advantage.
Invigorated out of the intermission, Penn State’s attack found its way into the Spartan penalty area in the 53rd minute to generate a pair of quality looks, but both shot attempts bounced off MSU defenders. The Blue & White ran up yet another 9-6 differential in shot attempts over the course of the final 45 minutes, with Parks managing to handle the impressive Nittany Lion attacking onslaught. Despite registering the final five shot attempts of the second half and holding the Spartans without a chance in the waning moments of the match, Michigan State managed to escape Jeffrey Field with a 1-0 win.
SCORING SUMMARY
3’ – Penn State weathered an early attacking opportunity from the Spartans, but a ricochet off a Nittany Lion’s back found the foot of Mueller. The Michigan State midfielder played the ball back to Gaynor at the edge of the penalty arc, who utilized a right-footed blast to sneak through the PSU back line and into the back right corner of the goal. MSU 1, PSU 0
UP NEXT
No. 9 Penn State women's soccer continues Big Ten Conference play and gets set for its first road trip in league action as the Nittany Lions head to Iowa City, Iowa, to face off against the Iowa Hawkeyes. PSU travels to the Iowa Soccer Complex next Thursday, September 26, with the match set to begin at 8 p.m. (ET) and air live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers on B1G+ and the B1G+ app.
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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.