TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On the back of a career night from graduate midfielder Natalie Wilson, in addition to tallies from freshman forward Aubrey Kulpa and graduate midfielder Rowan Lapi, the fourth-seeded and 22nd-ranked Penn State women’s soccer team advanced to the national quarterfinals of the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship following a 3-1 win over the eighth-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores in third-round action from the Seminole Soccer Complex Sunday evening.
Following Sunday night’s triumph in Tallahassee, the Nittany Lions secured their 15th all-time trip to the national quarterfinals and second advancement to the Elite Eight in a row. Penn State played in its eighth consecutive third round match in the NCAA Championships, marking the longest active stretch of Sweet 16 appearances in women’s college soccer. PSU landed its 66th all-time win in the national postseason and improved to 66-27-3 in the NCAA Tournament following its two-goal victory over the Commodores. The Nittany Lions will battle for their sixth appearance in the Women’s College Cup in program history and first bid since bringing home the national championship in 2015 when they battle the second-seeded and eighth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill next Friday, November 29.
The Nittany Lions booked their 15th win of the 2024 season in their result against the Commodores, rising to 15-6-3 overall while remaining unblemished in the NCAA Tournament at 3-0-0 through the third round. Penn State has outscored its first trio of national postseason opponents by a 12-2 margin, with the Blue & White notching multi-goal victories over Stony Brook in the first round in addition to Sunday’s two-goal win over Vanderbilt. The Nittany Lions and Commodores battled for the second time ever in the NCAA Tournament, with Penn State rising to 2-0-0 against Vanderbilt since the only prior meeting of the two programs on May 1, 2021, in the second round of the COVID-adjusted 2021 spring tournament. Vanderbilt concluded its 2024 campaign with a 10-4-7 overall record, with the program reaching its first-ever Sweet 16 thanks to a historic upset of top-seeded and defending national champion Florida State earlier this week.
On the final box score, Penn State was opportunistic and effective on both sides of the pitch in Tallahassee despite surrendering more shots and shots on goal than they forced. Vanderbilt picked up victories on the shot chart with an 18-7 differential in total attempts paired with a 7-5 victory in on-target shot opportunities. Penn State’s offense was often the more dangerous side, however, bringing home a win in the corner kick competition by a 5-4 tally, doing that for the eighth time this season. The Nittany Lions remain unbeaten when winning the corner battle this year, rising to 7-0-1 overall when doing so. Vanderbilt was far more overtly aggressive in the match, earning a whistle from the referee on 13 occasions opposed to just seven fouls against the Nittany Lions.
Wilson was the woman of the match in Penn State’s 24th fixture of the year, booking the most dominant individual performance of her collegiate career to help propel the Blue & White to their second consecutive national quarterfinal. Wilson, a native of Fairfax, Virginia, found the back of the net for the second time since joining the Penn State women’s soccer program in the spring of 2021, with both of her collegiate tallies going in the book as match-winning scores. Wilson’s banger was preceded by an assist on PSU’s first goal of the match toward the end of the first half, marking her first collegiate three-point outing.
Kulpa was a key contributor to Penn State’s offensive momentum on the night, burying her third goal of the NCAA Tournament with less than three minutes to play in the opening frame to deadlock the match at one goal apiece. Kulpa leads all Penn Staters in this year’s NCAA Tournament in terms of goals scored, with front-line teammates Rebecca Cooke and Kaitlyn MacBean trailing her with two goals each in this year’s postseason. Graduate midfielder Rowan Lapi buried Penn State’s third and final goal of the night via penalty kick, notching her fourth goal of the season from the spot. In the assist column, Wilson was joined by MacBean, as well as graduate defender Ginger Fontenot, who tallied her first point as a Nittany Lion on a secondary assist for Wilson’s match-winner.
In goal for the Nittany Lions, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress put on a shot-stopping tour-de-force in one of her most individually impactful performances of the year. Gress surrendered a single goal to the Commodores in a difficult rebound situation, otherwise putting together 90 minutes of immaculate effort for the Nittany Lions. Gress booked her 10th 90-minute performance between the pipes on Sunday evening, swatting away six Vanderbilt on-target shot attempts for her second highest save tally of the 2024 season. For the Commodores, last Friday night’s penalty shootout hero in Sara Wojdelko tallied 90 minutes of work, allowing a trio of Penn State tallies with a pair of saves in what was an otherwise historic individual weekend.
The opening few minutes of Sunday night’s third-round affair saw a balance of possession by both programs, with each side working for quality offensive chances. Senior midfielder Jordan Fusco helped generate Penn State’s most consequential chance of the early going, making an elite run and pass forward to junior forward Amelia White that narrowly escaped the endline before White could make a play on it. The Commodores generated their only tally of the evening with an effort down the right side of the pitch deep in the attacking third, with a Vanderbilt attacker delivering a service deep into the Nittany Lion 18. Caroline Betts was on the receiving end of the service, using her head to place a precarious shot on goal. Despite Gress’ quick reflex save on Betts’ shot attempt, the Vanderbilt striker was there to bury her own rebound to put Vandy up 1-0 in the eighth.
The Nittany Lion defense regrouped immediately thereafter and responded with physical tackling and elite footwork to get the Blue & White back into things. Gress notched a save on a long-range Commodore shot attempt as the half continued to wear on, further establishing PSU’s momentum on the defensive end of the pitch. Defense turned to offense as the clock continued to wind down in the first half, with MacBean working for the first Nittany Lion shot on goal, but the match went on relatively quiet until the clock passed the 42nd minute mark. Following a critical defensive play from redshirt sophomore midfielder Molly Martin that helped PSU regain possession around midfield, the ball found Wilson’s feet just inside the center circle. Wilson snuck past a slew of Commodore defenders and slotted a perfect through-ball to Kulpa on the far-right edge of the penalty arc straight-on from the Vanderbilt net. Kulpa utilized a world-class striker’s finish with her right boot to bury the ball into the top right corner of the Commodore goal to even the match at one apiece heading into the intermission.
With the momentum firmly on Penn State’s side coming out of the break, the Nittany Lions wasted little time finding a match-winning goal. Penn State’s score materialized on the right side of the pitch in the 59th minute, where Fontenot took control near the east sideline just beyond the midfield line in the PSU attacking half. Fontenot played a brilliant ball forward to MacBean around 25 yards away from the goal, where Penn State’s striker played the ball off her chest and delivered a pass centrally to Wilson beyond the 18. Finding herself in a clearing around 25 yards away from the Commodore net, Wilson delivered a right-footed strike into the top right corner of the Vanderbilt net beyond a last-ditch diving effort from the goalkeeper. With just over 30 minutes left to play, the Nittany Lions had surged ahead by a 2-1 margin.
Five minutes later, the Nittany Lions won a corner kick opportunity at the south end of the Seminole Soccer Complex pitch, with Lapi stepping up and delivering a high-arching service into the heart of the 18. With the ball still in the air, Vanderbilt’s Mia Gonzalez reached out with her right hand and batted the ball to the ground. After a VAR check to confirm the handball in the box, Lapi was called on to step up to the spot and bury her fourth penalty kick goal of the 2024 campaign. Vanderbilt attempted to make things dangerous with less than 15 minutes to play in the match, with a Commodore attacker trying a dangerous long-range shot attempt that was miraculously batted out of harm’s way by Gress. With the Nittany Lion defense holding strong and playing with a two-goal lead, Penn State managed to finish the match out with a 3-1 victory to reach the Elite Eight.
SCORING SUMMARY
8’ – The Commodores generated their most dangerous attacking opportunity of the early going down the right side of the pitch deep in the attacking third, with a Vanderbilt attacker delivering a service deep into the Nittany Lion 18. Caroline Betts was on the receiving end of the service, using her head to place a precarious shot on goal. Despite Gress’ quick reflex save on Betts’ shot attempt, the Vanderbilt striker was there to bury her own rebound to put Vandy up 1-0 in the eighth. VANDY 1, PSU 0
42’ – Following a critical defensive play from Martin to regain possession around midfield, the ball found Wilson’s feet just inside the center circle. Wilson snuck past a slew of Commodore defenders and slotted a perfect through-ball to Kulpa on the far-right edge of the penalty arc straight-on from the Vanderbilt net. Kulpa utilized a world-class striker’s finish with her right boot to bury the ball into the top right corner of the Commodore goal to even the match at one apiece. PSU 1, VANDY 1
59’ – The Nittany Lions’ match-winning goal materialized on the right side of the pitch in the 59th minute, where Fontenot took control near the east sideline just beyond the midfield line in the PSU attacking half. Fontenot played a brilliant ball forward to MacBean around 25 yards away from the goal, where Penn State’s striker played the ball off her chest and delivered a pass centrally to Wilson beyond the 18. Finding herself in a clearing around 25 yards away from the Commodore net, Wilson delivered a right-footed strike into the top right corner of the Vanderbilt net beyond a last-ditch diving effort from the goalkeeper. PSU 2, VANDY 1
66’ – The Nittany Lions won a corner kick opportunity at the south end of the Seminole Soccer Complex pitch, with Lapi stepping up and delivering a high-arching service into the heart of the 18. With the ball still in the air, Vanderbilt’s Mia Gonzalez reached out with her right hand and batted the ball to the ground. After a VAR check to confirm the handball in the box, Lapi was called on to step up to the spot and bury her fourth penalty kick goal of the 2024 campaign. PSU 3, VANDY 1
UP NEXT
Fourth-seeded Penn State women’s soccer continues its 30th consecutive NCAA Tournament run next week, as the Nittany Lions travel to square off against the second-seeded and eighth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels from Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Nittany Lions and Tar Heels will challenge each other for the second season in a row and fourth time ever in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, November 29, with kickoff time to be determined. All four national quarterfinal matches will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via ESPN+ and the ESPN app. More information will be released when it becomes available.
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