ST. LOUIS - No. 21 Penn State women’s soccer dropped a 2-1 result in overtime against No. 16 Purdue in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday night at Energizer Park.
The Nittany Lions will enter NCAA Tournament competition later this month with a 9-4-5 (7-2-3 Big Ten) record while the Boilermakers now sit at 16-2-2 (9-2-1 Big Ten).
Senior forward Paige Kalal scored her seventh goal of the season in the match with freshman midfielder Emma Johnson notching an assist. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress made three saves.
FIRST HALF
Purdue opened the match with possession and attempted to put the pressure on early. The Nittany Lion back line held the Boilermakers without a shot in the early minutes of the match and turned the defensive effort into the first try of the night by junior forward Aubrey Kulpa, who’s shot went wide.
Senior defender Brooklyn Antonucci earned the first shot on goal for Penn State at the 16:40 mark of the frame following two Purdue shots, one of which was blocked.
Purdue was booked with a yellow card in the 26th minute after Kalal beat a Boilermaker down the pitch and was only stopped thanks to a jersey pull. Shortly after the caution, freshman forward Ellie Kocher sent a shot on target from outside the 18, but it was saved by the Purdue keeper
With under 15 minutes to play redshirt sophomore defender Lilly Burger and redshirt senior defender Kayleigh Herr made massive blocks on shots from inside the box.
Gress recorded her first save of the night at the 42:15 mark of the half. The Penn State captain did not need to move much as she easily collected a shot toward the low middle of the net. Her save kept the match scoreless at 0-0 heading into the break.
SECOND HALF
Purdue scored early in the second half to take a 1-0 lead. The frame leveled out after the score with both sides battling for every possession with tough fouls on both ends.
Kalal evened the score at 1-1 off a rebound from inside the 18 at the 63:48 mark of the match. After Johnson nearly tied the contest herself with a strike off the post, the senior forward cleaned it up as nobody on the Purdue side accounted for Kalal.
Purdue was issued another caution in the 70th minute following a hard tackle. Gress recorded another save in the ensuing minutes to keep the match even. The Nittany Lion back line held firm despite a few potential chances by Purdue in the 78th minute.
Penn State earned a corner at the 81:38 mark. After a mass of deflections and kicks, a ball seemingly went off the arm of a Boilermaker inside the box. The play was reviewed, but the call on the field stood, and no penalty was awarded.
Gress would collect another late save, but neither side would break the tie as the match would go into overtime with a 1-1 score after 90 minutes.
OVERTIME
Purdue scored in the second minute of overtime to win the match.
SCORING SUMMARY
48’ - PSU 0, PUR 1: Jaiden Anderson (19)
64’ - PSU 1, PUR 1: Paige Kalal (7). Assisted by Emma Johnson (2)
92’ - PSU 1, PUR 2: Irene Campo (10). Assisted by Jaiden Anderson (7) and Tanna Schornstein (3)
UP NEXT
Penn State awaits its fate in the NCAA Tournament. The tournament bracket will be announced on Monday, November 16 during the selection show with first round matches running from Friday, November 20 to Sunday, November 22.
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.