No. 4 Women’s Soccer Falls 2-0 to No. 17 Penn State

Prior to last night’s match in Happy Valley, the last time the Scarlet Knights dropped a regular season match was September 12th, 2021 versus Georgetown. On a cold, rainy, blustery night at Jeffrey Field, the Knights could not find the back of the net.

The Nittany Lions struck early in the 9th minute on a goal by Ally Schlegel, off the rebound on a save by Knights keeper Megan McClelland. Shortly after, the Knights’s offense picked up the pace as the skies opened up, outshooting Penn State 10-5, and getting three shots on goal from Sara Brocious, Riley Tiernan, and Kylie Daigle, but couldn’t sneak one past Nittany Lions keeper Katherine Asman, who made five saves in the opening half.

Penn State padded their lead in the 54th minute on a goal by Penelope Hocking and ultimately took the match, 2-nil. The Nittany Lions outshot the Knights 7-3 in the 2nd half. Rutgers drops to 9-1-0 while Penn State improves to 6-1-2.

Early into the Big Ten season, Penn State looks to be one of the main contenders for the B1G title, along with Ohio State (whom Rutgers defeated on September 18th), Northwestern and Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions made the most of their opportunities while the Knights failed to capitalize on many scoring chances.

The Jinx

Yup, that would me be as I incorrectly listed the Knights’s record after last week’s win against Ohio State and failed to throw salt over my shoulder. Lesson learned.

Quotable

“Credit to Penn State, they’re a good team, and these are the games you learn the most from. The most important thing is we stick together and learn everything we can from this game.”

Rutgers Head Coach Mike O’Neill

Next Up

The Scarlet Knights have to dry off, defrost, and flush this one down the drain quickly as they head home to host Maryland on Sun., Sept. 25 at 1 p.m. at Yurcak Field, airing live on Big Ten Network.