American Nittany Lions Advance To U-20 World Cup Semifinals
Five of the six Nittany Lions competing at the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea made it past the quarterfinal stage this weekend.
The United States, which is made up of five from Penn State women’s soccer, defeated Mexico 2-1 to reach the last four. Germany, which has Penn State freshman Laura Freigang, was not as lucky — falling 1-0 to France.
Here’s a rundown of the action that’s happened at this edition of the tournament:
United States
Penn State’s Emily Ogle, Kaleigh Riehl, Maddie Elliston, and Eliie Jean all got the start for the fourth-straight game for the United States and goalkeeper Rose Chandler was on the bench. The four starters from Penn State all played the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 comeback win.
USA struggled with Mexico for large portions of the game, but went into halftime tied 0-0. Mexico struck first off a free kick that got by Rutgers goalkeeper Casey Murphy in the 66th minute. With a goal from Texas A&M forward Ally Watt off the bench in the 81st minute to equalize, the game appeared to be heading to overtime. But the United States had one last opportunity, and buried it in the third minute of stoppage time to advance in dramatic fashion.
The United States will play Korea DPR in the semifinals on Tuesday at 1 a.m. live on FS1. Should it advance, USA would face either France or Japan in the final on Sunday morning.
Germany
Freigang started in her fourth-straight game for Germany and once again played the full 90 minutes. Germany, which won each of its three group stage games, fell behind in the 16th minute against France. The Germans couldn’t net an equalizer and will not defend the title after a 1-0 quarterfinal loss to France.
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