No. 8 Penn State women’s soccer (4-1-2) fell to Oklahoma State University (5-0-1) in double overtime Thursday at Jeffrey Field.

After an intense first half that ended in a 1-1 draw, the Nittany Lions seemed to gradually lose their momentum. The second half saw minimal action, which forced overtime with both teams still having one goal apiece. After no goals were scored in the first 10 minutes of overtime, the Cowgirls came back and scored in the 102nd minute of the match.

How It Happened

In the first 25 minutes of the match, both Penn State and Oklahoma State’s defenses held strong. The Nittany Lion’s passing game was dominate and gave them most of the possession throughout the early stages.

After a narrow miss from the Cowgirls’ Olyvia Dowell, who slid a right-footed shot just wide in the 18th minute, the Nittany Lions quickly drove the ball upfield. The move ended with a shot from Ally Schlegel that was saved by Cowgirls’ goalkeeper Dani Greenlee.

In the 22nd minute, Schlegel outjumped Greenlee to head home a Sam Coffey corner. The strike put Schlegel’s tally at five goals in five games.

A free kick from the Cowgirls went flying into the box, Penn State goalkeeper Kat Asman couldn’t grasp the ball, and Oklahoma State’s Jaci Jones tapped it in at the 34th minute to level the score.

After the Cowgirls tied the game, the Nittany Lions lost a bit of momentum. But they soon gained it back, delivering 12 shots on goal for the rest of the half. Their tackles were especially strong in the last few minutes of the first half, with red-shirt freshman Maddie Myers showing some defensive toughness in Penn State’s defensive third.

Greenlee made five saves that were integral to the Cowgirls in the first half. The teams entered halftime deadlocked at one.

Four minutes into the second half, Oklahoma State orchestrated a breakaway and a close shot on the ground by Gabriella Coleman just missed the goal on the left. It was quickly taken back to the Nittany Lion penalty area, but Julia Lenheardt’s shot couldn’t beat Asman.

In the 64th minute, the first yellow card of the game was distributed to Oklahoma State’s Charmé Morgan after she tackled Kate Wiesner just outside the Penn State penalty area. The Cowgirls racked up another yellow when Grace Yochum mistimed a slide tackle on Wiesner several minutes later.

There were several missed free kick opportunities for both teams in the second half. In the final five minutes of the game, the Nittany Lions desperately pushed forward in search of a goal. They were unsuccessful, and overtime ensued with Penn State and Oklahoma State tied with a goal apiece.

Both teams committed an immense amount of fouls during the intensely physical match, with Oklahoma State recording 14 to Penn State’s nine.

The first period overtime was a game of end-to-end play with the ball moving quickly. But yet again, neither team could find the goal and the second overtime period began.

In the first minute of the second overtime, Jones served a corner into the penalty area and Kim Rodriguez headed the ball into the net, giving Oklahoma State the golden goal and winning the match for the Cowgirls.

Player of the Match

Kaleigh Riehl| Senior |Center Back

Penn State’s captain was imperious at the back, timing tackles perfectly, distributing well, and making several crucial blocks.

What’s Next?

Penn State returns to Jeffrey Field to face No. 4 University of Virginia (6-0-0) Sunday, September 15 at 1 p.m.