SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Penn State women’s soccer opened the 2026 campaign with a 2-2 draw on the road against No. 2 Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Stadium. PSU moved to 20-9-4 in season opening matches with a 4-8-1 record on the road.
The Nittany Lions (0-0-1) and Fighting Irish (0-0-2) were mostly even across the final box score in a highly competitive match from start to finish. Notre Dame finished with a narrow, 16-13 edge in shots while Penn State held the advantage in saves with four by redshirt senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress. The Blue & White had four corner kick opportunities while the Fighting Irish had five chances.
Junior forward Aubrey Kulpa tallied a goal and an assist within 1:19 in the second half. Her three-point performance, the sixth time she has scored at least three points in a match, led the Penn State offense to an early 2-0 lead in the second half. The Cromwell, Connecticut native totaled four shots with three of them on target as she paced the Nittany Lion attack.
Senior forward Paige Kalal scored Penn State’s first goal of the season off Kulpa’s beautiful pass across the box. Her five shots led the team in her first appearance in the Blue & White following her transfer from Minnesota.
Redshirt senior midfielder Molly Martin, redshirt senior defender Kayleigh Herr and senior defender Brooklyn Antonucci joined Gress in net as student-athletes to play the full 90 minutes.
Joining Kalal as transfers to make their first appearances for Penn State were Antonucci and graduate defender Lily Boyden. Five Nittany Lions made their collegiate debut in the contest with midfielder Emma Johnson earning a start. She was joined by forward Anna Babcock, midfielders Paige Pasinski and Layla Tomezak and redshirt freshman forward Nicole Crane.
FIRST HALF
Penn State and Notre Dame battled to a 0-0 first half. Bella Ayscue worked to a quick chance, sending a shot wide just a minute into the contest to establish the Penn State attack. A few minutes later, Gress recorded the first save of the afternoon on a shot from Reese Canada before the squads settled into the match.
Boyden and Antonucci led the Blue & White back line to multiple key stops to hold the Notre Dame attack at bay as the physicality picked up in the middle minutes of the opening frame. Penn State and Notre Dame were assessed yellow cards with Ayscue for the Nittany Lions and Canada for the Fighting Irish receiving cautions.
After Notre Dame’s card at the 24:45 mark, the Penn State attack began to push the tempo, led by Kulpa. Kulpa sliced through the ND defense for two close chances that were saved by the Fighting Irish keeper. A late corner with less than a minute in the half found the left foot of Martin who just missed the net. The Nittany Lions finished the half with an 8-3 edge in shots, including three on target.
SECOND HALF
The Blue & White carried the strong attack to the second half, finding the back of the net in the 52nd minute. Kulpa dribbled down the right side of the attacking third before she found an unmarked Kalal racing down the middle. The Brooklyn Park, Minnesota native fired a shot to the bottom left of the goal for the first Penn State score of the season.
Just 1:19 later, Kulpa pressured an Irish back liner into a turnover inside their defensive third to give herself a one-on-one chance against the Notre Dame goalkeeper. Kulpa sneaked it past the keeper as she fell to the Alumni Stadium grass to push PSU to a quick 2-0 advantage.
The middle third of the half was a defensive battle as the Fighting Irish took multiple shots but could not find any threatening opportunities of the net thanks to a strong stand by Penn State’s back line. Gress recorded a save while four more shots went wide for Notre Dame.
At the 68:27 mark of the match, Gress met a Notre Dame attacker inside the box as both student-athletes watched an entry pass near the post. The Fighting Irish were awarded a penalty shot for the contact, which they scored to make it 2-1. The Irish brought the score even with just over two minutes to play on a redirect in front of the net. Neither side recorded another shot as the match would end in a 2-2 draw.
SCORING SUMMARY
52’ - PSU 1, ND 0: Paige Kalal (1). Assisted by Aubrey Kulpa (1)
54’ - PSU 2, ND 0: Aubrey Kulpa (1)
69’ - PSU 2, ND 1: Lily Joseph (1)
88’ - PSU 2, ND 2: Lily Joseph (2). Assisted by Ellie Hodsden (1)
UP NEXT
Penn State continues the 2026 campaign on the road with a trip to Morgantown to face the No. 20 West Virginia Mountaineers on Thursday, August 20. Kickoff from Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium is set for 7 p.m. (ET) with a live broadcast on ESPN+.
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.