Behind the power of five goals from redshirt freshman Tani Costa, the Lady Lions cruised to a couple of blowout victories this past week, defeating both Indiana and Purdue by identical 6-1 scores.

On Thursday night, Costa recorded the first hat trick of the year for Penn State while Danielle Toney, Hayley Brock and Christine Nairn also tallied goals in front of the home crowd at Jeffrey Field. That win brought the team’s overall record back to .500, something that had not sniffed since the very start of the season.

The ladies carried that momentum with them to West Lafayette for the Purdue matchup on Sunday afternoon and used it to deliver a beating to Indiana’s other Big Ten team. Purdue allowed two more goals from Costa, Nairn, Brock and Toney each scored another goal and Maya Hayes also got in on the action for the Lady Lions. Goalkeeper Krissy Tribbett had another set of great games, giving up only two goals in 170 minutes worth of work, helping put the ladies above the .500 mark at 9-8-1 overall.

Costa’s efforts earned her three weekly honors as she was named the Big Ten Freshman and Offensive Player of the Week while also being named TopDrawerSoccer.com’s Player of the Week as well.

Penn State is tied for second place in the Big Ten with Ohio State with 21 points (both have identical 7-2-0 conference records). Wisconsin sits in first with 23 points and a 7-1-2 conference record. The Buckeyes and Lady Lions both have one conference game remaining to try and overtake the Badgers for the Big Ten crown. Ohio State faces Michigan State (9-5-4 overall, 3-3-3 Big Ten) on Friday night.

Upcoming Schedule:
Sunday vs. Michigan, 1:00 p.m.