SAINT PAUL, Minn. – After a grueling opening 88 minutes, senior defender Mieke Schiemann stood watch over a free kick opportunity deep in the final third, banging home an eye-popping match-winning goal that propelled the 22nd-ranked and 10th-seeded Penn State women’s soccer team to a 1-0 win over the tournament host and seventh-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers Friday evening in the opening round of the 2024 Big Ten Tournament from Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.
Following the eye-popping result in the Twin Cities, the Nittany Lions improved to 12-5-3 overall and snapped the Golden Gophers’ previous nine-match unbeaten streak. Minnesota stood at 7-0-2 at ELR Stadium in the 2024 campaign and defeated No. 11 Iowa by a 2-1 margin less than a week before Friday’s matchup against the Blue & White. In defeat, Minnesota fell back to 12-4-3 overall and will await their seeding in the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Selection Monday, November 11. The Nittany Lions picked up their 26th victory against the Golden Gophers all-time and improved to 26-6-2 all-time against Minnesota. PSU is an impressive 5-1-1 in the last seven matchups with Minnesota and also boasts an impressive 5-0-1 mark against the Golden Gophers in the Big Ten Tournament since their first postseason meeting in the 1999 B1G semifinals.
The Blue & White, one of the most storied programs in the history of women’s college soccer, continued its reign of dominance in the Big Ten Conference Tournament, with Penn State booking its 41st all-time victory in the event to reach the quarterfinals for the 29th time. PSU improved to 41-14-6 overall following Friday night’s result, a winning percentage of .721 all-time. The Nittany Lions picked up their fifth all-time win in a true road Big Ten Tournament matchup, as well as their third all-time win in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. PSU will square off against a new Big Ten Conference opponent on Monday afternoon, meeting a new challenger in the league’s tournament for the first time since battling Rutgers in the 2015 Big Ten Tournament championship, a 2-0 Nittany Lion victory.
The ultra-competitive opening-round matchup saw the Golden Gophers and Nittany Lions grind for a relatively even slew of statistics on Friday night’s box score. Minnesota picked up the edge in total shots by an 18-12 margin, but the Blue & White battled back for an even second-half shot chart, eight to eight. The Golden Gophers also registered an 8-5 victory in terms of shots on goal, but both programs played to an even 7-7 draw in the corner kick competition. The officiating crew largely swallowed their whistles Friday evening, with both teams combining for a mere 11 fouls in what was an extremely physical affair. Both programs saw a single student-athlete cautioned for unsporting behavior, with each caution coming in the second half of play.
Schiemann, recently crowned as a Second Team All-Big Ten selection by the league office earlier Friday afternoon, lived up to the billing in the thrilling Penn State victory on the road. The veteran center back was called on to provide her sixth career match-winning goal in the waning moments of the second half as well as her single-season career-high third match clincher of 2024. Schiemann stands on 32 career points comprised of 12 career goals in addition to eight assists. The Berlin, Germany, native played all 90 minutes in a contest for the 14th time this season, going full-time in 14 of her 19 appearances in the 2024 campaign.
In the passing game, senior midfielder Jordan Fusco and redshirt senior midfielder Olivia Damico both garnered an assist on the Schiemann set-piece strike in the second half. Fusco garnered Second Team All-Big Ten recognition in her single season with the Blue & White, joining a First Team All-SEC honor a year ago during her career at Tennessee. Fusco’s all-conference status was on full display in the PSU victory, with the Olmsted Township, Ohio, native delivering her 10th assist of her senior campaign, the most dishes in a single year since Penelope Hocking and Kate Wiesner both registered 11 feeds in the 2022 season. Damico, meanwhile, poured in her third feed of the campaign and sixth of her career, with the Victor, New York, native notching her 16th career point in the process.
Between the pipes, Penn State redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress put forth a herculean effort, mustering her third collegiate shutout in addition to her fourth win as the Nittany Lion starter. Gress, a native of Lyndhurst, New Jersey, turned back a career-high eight saves, surpassing her previous career-best six-save effort against UCLA on October 17. The Penn State shot-stopper played all 90 minutes for the seventh time in her career and rose to 4-2-2 at the conclusion of Friday’s showing. In goal for Minnesota, sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Martin rejected a quartet of Nittany Lion shots on goal and allowed one tally en route to the losing decision.
The opening moments of the match played to Minnesota’s hand, with the Golden Gophers able to fully capitalize on a rowdy home crowd to generate the first trio of shots in the competition. Minnesota was able to test the Nittany Lion back line with the first shot on goal of the match, an effort toward the lower right portion of the goal that was corralled by Gress. The Excelsior, Minnesota, native Kaitlyn MacBean was able to provide the first shot of the match in the ninth minute, but Minnesota snapped back with the next three opportunities. Gress went on to combine for four of her eight stops in the opening 45 minutes of play. The Nittany Lions saw their best chance at a lid-lifting score punched away from the top left corner of the goal by Minnesota’s keeper in the 25th minute, with Fusco nearly putting the Blue & White ahead by a tally. Both teams returned to the locker room knotted at nil in the pivotal opening round test.
Both goalkeepers continued to provide their teams with energy out of the intermission, as Gress and Martin both turned back multiple highlight-reel saves in the final 45 minutes of play. Gress stole the show in the 53rd minute, as Minnesota attacker Caroline Birdsell drove to the lower right corner of the box. Birdsell clobbered the ball with her right boot toward the top left corner of the goal, mirroring Martin’s effort in the first half, batting away the strongest Golden Gopher chance of the night with an athletic jump toward the ball. Penn State weathered multiple Minnesota chances from corners early in the second half and started to dominate the momentum battle toward the end of the contest.
With time winding down in the match, both teams battled and won dangerous free kick opportunities just outside their opponent’s boxes. A pair of chances for Minnesota flew off target, and Penn State was able to return the favor with a lethal opportunity in the final two minutes of play. After MacBean drew a critical foul on the central edge of the 18 that forced the referee to pull out a yellow card for the Golden Gopher defender, the trio of Schiemann, Fusco and Damico crowded over the ball from the free kick location. One of Penn State’s patented short-range shot opportunities saw Fusco tap the ball forward to Damico, who stopped the action at the edge of the box. After setting up their teammate, Fusco and Damico stood by and watched as Schiemann delivered an impeccable right-footed ball through a slew of Minnesota defenders into the back right corner of the net. Penn State played out the final two minutes with stellar defensive organization, punching its ticket to the quarterfinals of the B1G Tournament with a 1-0 win in hand.
SCORING SUMMARY
89’ – After MacBean drew a critical foul on the central edge of the 18 that forced the referee to pull out a yellow card for the Golden Gopher defender, the trio of Schiemann, Fusco and Damico crowded over the ball from the free kick location. One of Penn State’s patented short-range shot opportunities saw Fusco tap the ball forward to Damico, who stopped the action at the edge of the box. After setting up their teammate, Fusco and Damico stood by and watched as Schiemann delivered an impeccable right-footed ball through a slew of Minnesota defenders into the back right corner of the net. PSU 1, MINN 0
UP NEXT
Tenth-seeded and 22nd-ranked Penn State women’s soccer continues play in the Quarterfinals of the 2024 Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Blue & White will battle second-seeded and ninth-ranked UCLA in a 4 p.m. (ET) matchup on Monday, November 4, a time adjusted by Thursday’s inclement weather in the Twin Cities. The contest is set to stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app.
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