UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State concluded nonconference action with a 1-1 draw against Virginia Tech on Thursday night at Jeffrey Field.
In the tie, redshirt senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress made 10 saves, breaking her previous career-high of eight. The defending Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week is up to 21 saves on the season.
Senior forward Paige Kalal netted her second goal of the season off a penalty kick in the first half. She is now up to six points with two goals and two assists. Kalal tallied a two-shot day with both on target.
Junior forward Aubrey Kulpa led the Penn State offense with five shots of the team’s 14 shots. Two of her shots forced saves from the Hokie keeper.
FIRST HALF
Gress’ record-breaking day began early as she made her first save in the 2nd minute of the match. A handball on Virginia Tech in the box took away an early score for the Hokies to keep the match scoreless at 0-0. The Blue & White responded with their first shots of the day by Kulpa and Kalal as the match moved past the first 10 minutes.
After some strong chances for the Nittany Lions, the team broke through in the 15th minute of the match as the Hokies fouled Kulpa in the box after she worked past a defender. Kalal put Penn State on the board with a well-placed penalty kick to the back of the net as she caught the VT keeper going in the wrong direction.
Penn State and Virginia Tech traded chances with neither being able to find a score for the remainder of the half as Gress would finish the frame with four saves and led PSU to a 1-0 edge at the break.
SECOND HALF
The two sides would continue to trade opportunities without any real scoring threat until the 56th minute when a Virginia Tech shot forced Gress to make a leaping save to push it above the crossbar.
The Nittany Lions found their best chance of the early parts of the second half at the 62:05 mark when Kulpa made her way up the left side of the pitch and sent a cross to the middle of the box, looking to find freshman forward Ellie Kocher. Kocher nearly completed the play but was denied by the crossbar as the score would remain 1-0.
Virginia Tech tallied the tying goal at the 84:45 mark. Gress saved the first shot she faced in the sequence, but the rebound found the feet of the Hokies’ Gabby Ciocca for the equalizer.
Penn State nearly retook the lead in the last minute of action as Bella Ayscue would have a shot blocked before Kulpa nearly scored on a header that was corralled by the VT goalkeeper with just 36 seconds to play. A review for a handball in the box during the series of shots was reviewed but not called as the match would finish in a 1-1 draw.
SCORING SUMMARY
15’ - PSU 1, VT 0: Paige Kalal (1)
85’ - PSU 1, VT 1: Gabby Ciocca (3). Assisted by Johannah Bradley (1)
UP NEXT
Penn State will take a week off to get ready for Big Ten play ahead of the conference opener on the road at No. 8 Ohio State on Thursday, September 10. Kickoff from Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus is set for 7 p.m. (ET) with a national broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
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.