COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 15 Penn State women’s soccer dropped its 2024 regular season finale on Sunday afternoon, falling by a 4-1 margin to the No. 21 Ohio State Buckeyes in its third consecutive nationally ranked road matchup from Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
In defeat, Penn State drops to 11-5-3 overall through its 19th and final match of the 2024 campaign, dropping to 5-4-2 against Big Ten Conference competitors following the 11-match league calendar. The loss guaranteed that PSU would open its 2024 postseason in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament later this week from Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota seeded between No. 7 and No. 10 in the league tournament. With the win in hand, Ohio State climbs to 11-4-3 overall and 6-3-2 against conference foes, awaiting the remainder of the decision Sunday matches to go final before determining their seeding.
On the final box score, Ohio State picked up a 21-17 differential in total shot attempts, becoming the eighth opponent this season to out-shoot Penn State overall. The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes played to a 7-7 draw in terms of on-target shot attempts, with the sides also recording a narrow battle in the corner kick competition. OSU out-cornered Penn State by a slim 4-3 margin overall on the afternoon. The Buckeyes were more overtly physical on the day, booking 13 fouls against seven whistles for the Blue & White, also notching the only two yellow cards on the day from the officiating crew.
Individually, redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean recorded her 14th goal of the 2024 campaign for PSU with a second-half tally that cut the Buckeye lead back to two scores. MacBean, a native of Excelsior, Minnesota, heads back to her home state for the Big Ten Tournament later this week boasting the third-highest scoring tally in the B1G behind Minnesota’s Khyah Harper and OSU’s Kailyn Dudukovich. Senior midfielder Jordan Fusco collected her ninth assist on the year, with her eighth helper of a MacBean goal in the process, while freshman forward Aubrey Kulpa dished out her third collegiate assist on the lone PSU goal to improve to 11 points on her rookie campaign.
In goal, Nittany Lion keeper and redshirt sophomore Mackenzie Gress turned back a trio of Buckeye shots on goal while allowing a quartet of scores en route to her second loss of the year. Gress was forced to defend against the most shots she has faced in her collegiate career to date, with the 21 Buckeye tries outpacing 20 shot attempts, her previous career high, against the UCLA Bruins on the road last Thursday. For Ohio State, Molly Pritchard faced off against 17 Nittany Lion shots, booking six saves against one goal allowed in the winning decision.
The first 15 minutes of action passed largely without incident, as neither squad was able to muster any significant chances despite Penn State dominating the possession through the early going. In the 18th, the Buckeyes worked the ball down the right wing, and a high-arching service into the box from the far-right side of the field sailed centrally toward Gress. PSU’s keeper managed to bat the ball away from the goal, but a long rebound sailed out to Jacinda Bonham, who buried the ball into the lower left corner with a right-footed effort. Neither team managed another goal in the latter portion of the period, with Ohio State taking a 1-0 lead into the break.
Out of the intermission, both teams played similarly to the first 15 minutes of the match earlier in the afternoon, with Penn State looking solid in possession despite being largely unable to convert that possession into a volatile scoring threat. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes were able to double their lead with another rebound-sparked goal in the 61st minute, tacking on another goal in the 74th to make it a three-score differential. Off the kickoff a mere seconds following the Buckeye goal, Penn State aggressively challenged up the pitch and found Fusco centrally around 25 yards outside of the Ohio State goal. She fed the ball forward to Kulpa at the edge of the 18, who flicked the ball on to MacBean on the left side of the pitch around 15 yards out. MacBean took a dribble and buried her 14th goal of the year into the back right corner of the Buckeye goal. OSU tallied once again in the 85th to finalize the 4-1 score.
SCORING SUMMARY
18’ – The Buckeyes worked the ball down the right wing, and a high-arching service into the box from the far-right side of the field sailed centrally toward Gress. PSU’s keeper managed to bat the ball away from the goal, but a long rebound sailed out to Jacinda Bonham, who buried the ball into the lower left corner with a right-footed effort. OSU 1, PSU 0
61’ – Ohio State attacked the PSU back line centrally, with a shot by Amanda Schlueter toward the lower right corner of the goal becoming a save for Gress that ricocheted off her gloves to her left. After another long rebound, OSU’s Sydney Jones cleaned things up with her right foot into the back left corner. OSU 2, PSU 0
74’ – A Buckeye corner kick try from the near side sailed into the box, where Anika Poremba utilized her right foot from around 11 yards out to find the back right corner of the Nittany Lion net. OSU 3, PSU 0
74’ – Off the kickoff a mere seconds following the Buckeye goal, Penn State aggressively challenged up the pitch and found Fusco centrally around 25 yards outside of the Ohio State goal. She fed the ball forward to Kulpa at the edge of the 18, who flicked the ball on to MacBean on the left side of the pitch around 15 yards out. MacBean took a dribble and buried her 14th goal of the year into the back right corner of the Buckeye goal. OSU 3, PSU 1
85’ – A challenging run by Schlueter broke the final line for PSU, with her pass going forward to Dudukovich on the left side of the 18. The Buckeye striker used a medium-range shot with her left foot to beat Gress into the bottom right corner. OSU 4, PSU 1
UP NEXT
No. 15 Penn State women's soccer awaits its seeding in the 2024 Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament, as the Nittany Lions begin their 30th consecutive postseason with conference tournament action hosted at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota. First Round matches between seeds 7 and 10, as well as 8 and 9, will take place on Thursday, October 31, with quarterfinals featuring the winners of those matches and the remaining six seeds running between Saturday and Sunday, November 2 and 3.
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