CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In a raucous back-and-forth affair from Demirjian Park, the No. 18 Penn State women’s soccer team dropped a 4-3 decision to the Illinois Fighting Illini on Thursday night.
The final statistics told a wildly different story than the final score would indicate, with Penn State dominating the run of play throughout Thursday’s battle in Champaign. The Nittany Lions racked up an eye-popping 18 total shots with a team season-high 13 shots on goal, surpassing the previous high of 10 set against Saint Louis in the second match of the year. PSU secured an additional statistical win in the corner kick competition, amassing seven corners against four allowed for the Fighting Illini.
Penn State’s attack was led by a trio of goal scorers, including sophomore forward Aubrey Kulpa, senior midfielder Olivia Borgen and graduate forward Kaitlyn MacBean. Kulpa, a native of Cromwell, Connecticut, found the back of the net for a Big Ten-best eighth time on Thursday, marking her first tally since potting her first B1G goal of the league slate against Maryland on September 11. The Hanson, Massachusetts, native Borgen celebrated her first goal in the Blue & White this season in addition to her first score since logging the match-winner on the road at Princeton on September 5, 2024. MacBean, meanwhile, continued her torrid stretch in conference action with her fifth goal in four league fixtures, finding the back of the net for the sixth time in her final collegiate season.
In the passing game, four different Nittany Lions recorded helpers on the night, with redshirt senior midfielder Julia Raich, freshman defender Hannah Jordan, junior defender Kaelyn Wolfe and freshman midfielder Riley Cross each booking one apiece. Raich mustered a helper in her second-straight match while Cross and Jordan each booked their first assists in Big Ten competition. Wolfe, a native of West Chester, Pennsylvania, added her name to the scoresheet for the first time in 2025, marking her first point since notching a helper in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last season against Stony Brook on November 16. In total, four different PSU fielders played all 90 minutes, with Raich joining redshirt junior defender Kayleigh Herr, sophomore defender Bella Ayscue and redshirt freshman defender Lilly Burger with that distinction.
The first of seven combined goals came in the ninth minute of play, where a passing miscue by the Fighting Illini in the center circle paved the way for Penn State’s first tally of the night, as Jordan took control of the errant pass in the Nittany Lion defending half. The rookie defender took two dribbles to generate some space in the Illinois formation and clobbered a perfectly timed ball well into the Fighting Illini half of the pitch. The ball landed on the outstretched foot of Kulpa, who timed a run past the entire Illinois defense to generate a one-on-one against the keeper. Kulpa dribbled into the box, sidestepped to her right, and nestled a carefully placed right-footed effort into the bottom right corner of the net from around 15 yards out.
Illinois was able to reply with back-to-back goals in the 13th and 31st minutes to take a precarious 2-1 advantage, but Penn State was able to snap back before the halftime intermission to deadlock the score at two. Chaos in the Nittany Lion defending midfield ensued following a defensive throw-in for the Blue & White, with the ball ultimately ending up on the boot of Wolfe around the midfield line. A quick ball forward from the junior careened forward for Borgen, who utilized a single right-footed touch to generate a clearing past the last line of Illinois’ defense. Earning a one-on-one opportunity against Lee, Borgen took advantage with a right-footed tally into the bottom left corner from just inside the Fighting Illini box.
Out of the break, the home squad was able to re-take the lead with a score in the 55th minute, but PSU once again found an answer 10 minutes later. A marvelous long ball forward from Raich set the tone for Penn State’s equalizing opportunity in the 65th minute. Raich’s long service settled immediately in front of Cross on the far side of the pitch around 22 yards away from the endline. The rookie midfielder quickly shuttled the ball to her right, finding MacBean in the central portion of the Fighting Illini penalty area. From there, MacBean executed a spin move and clocked a hard-hit right-footed effort straight toward the Illinois keeper, whose save attempt merely slowed down MacBean’s shot as it found the back of the net for the match-tying tally.
The result looked destined to finish level, but Illinois capitalized on one more opportunity in the 84th minute of play. Ryleigh Wood got the ball forward to Emma Yee down the right-hand flank of the Nittany Lion back line, allowing Yee to begin a long-distance run toward the Nittany Lion 18. The moment the ball reached the 18-yard box, Yee unleashed a right-footed attempt along the ground that zipped into the bottom left corner past Gress’ reach. Penn State looked dangerous over the waning moments of the match but were ultimately unable to secure a final equalizer as Illinois closed the book on a 4-3 home victory.
Following Thursday night’s action in Illinois, the Nittany Lions drop to 5-4-2 overall and 1-2-1 in Big Ten Conference competition through the early opportunities on the league calendar. Illinois improves to 9-1-1 overall and 2-1-1 against conference competition. In the all-time series between the two programs, Illinois mustered its first win over the Blue & White since 2012 and secured the program’s fifth all-time win against the Blue & White. Penn State remains in firm control of the all-time series record, 30-5-0.
SCORING SUMMARY
9’ – A passing miscue by the Fighting Illini in the center circle paved the way for Penn State’s first tally of the night, as Jordan took control of the errant pass in the Nittany Lion defending half. The rookie defender took two dribbles to generate some space in the Illinois formation and clobbered a perfectly timed ball well into the Fighting Illini half of the pitch. The ball landed on the outstretched foot of Kulpa, who timed a run past the entire Illinois defense to generate a one-on-one against Izzy Lee. Kulpa dribbled into the box, sidestepped to her right, and nestled a carefully placed right-footed effort into the bottom right corner of the net from around 15 yards out. PSU 1, ILL 0
13’ – Tea Mayson managed a center-seeking pass from the left flank of the Fighting Illini formation toward Sydney Stephens around 25 yards outside of the Nittany Lion net. Stephens utilized a right-footed dribble to juke a PSU defender and work back to her left, where she uncorked a left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty arc that rang true after a friendly bounce off the right post. PSU 1, ILL 1
31’ – The Fighting Illini managed to work their way up the pitch on a series of impressive passes, with a pair of flicks from Cayla Jackson and Sutton Webb ultimately setting the table for Lia Howard inside the Nittany Lion penalty area. After playing the ball behind her with a savvy move, Howard uncovered a clearing and was able to slot a left-footed effort into the center of the goal past a diving save attempt from Gress. ILL 2, PSU 1
41’ – Chaos in the Nittany Lion defending midfield ensued following a defensive throw-in for the Blue & White, with the ball ultimately ending up on the boot of Wolfe around the midfield line. A quick ball forward from the junior careened forward for Borgen, who utilized a single right-footed touch to generate a clearing past the last line of Illinois’ defense. Earning a one-on-one opportunity against Lee, Borgen took advantage with a right-footed tally into the bottom left corner from just inside the Fighting Illini box. PSU 2, ILL 2
55’ – Illinois’ offense managed to play the ball centrally to Ashlyn Adams, who promptly worked to the edge of the box and delivered a pass a few yards forward to Howard. The Fighting Illini attacker spun with the ball to her right, jumped back and forth, and ultimately beat Gress with a misdirection right-footed shot into the lower left corner to give the home side the edge once again. ILL 3, PSU 2
65’ – A marvelous long ball forward from Raich set the tone for Penn State’s equalizing opportunity in the 65th minute. Raich’s long service settled immediately in front of Cross on the far side of the pitch around 22 yards away from the endline. The rookie midfielder quickly shuttled the ball to her right, finding MacBean in the central portion of the Fighting Illini penalty area. From there, MacBean executed a spin move and clocked a hard-hit right-footed effort straight toward the Illinois keeper, whose save attempt merely slowed down MacBean’s shot as it found the back of the net for the match-tying tally. PSU 3, ILL 3
84’ – Ryleigh Wood got the ball forward to Emma Yee down the right-hand flank of the Nittany Lion back line, allowing Yee to begin a long-distance run toward the Nittany Lion 18. The moment the ball reached the 18-yard box, Yee unleashed a right-footed attempt along the ground that zipped into the bottom left corner past Gress’ reach. ILL 4, PSU 3
UP NEXT
No. 18 Penn State women's soccer concludes its weekend swing through the state of Illinois this Sunday, September 28, as the Nittany Lions face off against the Northwestern Wildcats in a 2 p.m. (ET) kick from Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. The match will stream to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
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.
The 2025 Penn State women's soccer season is presented by Highmark.