Penn State women’s soccer (7-0-1) took down Maryland (3-1-4) 4-0 Friday night at Jeffrey Field. Penn State kept its sixth clean sheet and eighth unbeaten game on its senior night.

It was all gas, no brakes for the Nittany Lions who dominated the game in every aspect. The offense was collected the whole 90 minutes, trying out new plays and runs to tear apart the Terrapins. Rebecca Cooke scored her second goal of the season in an optimistic look to seal the win for the Nittany Lions in the 82nd minute.

How It Happened

Maryland attacked the pitch first, but its shot was snagged by goalie Katherine Asman. She sent the ball down to Olivia Borgen but the Maryland goalie Liz Beardsley foiled her chance.

The Nittany Lions kept control early on, winning a corner kick but Kaitlyn MacBean’s shot was just off target.

They won another corner and the ball went outside the box, right to Kate Wiesner who slammed the volley into the upper left corner to give Penn State the early 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.

Penn State was tested in the 13th minute as Kennedy Bell took on the defense who forced her shot to go just wide of the net.

Following the scare, Penn State kept the ball in its attacking half with another big chance from Natalie Wilson, but Beardsley pounced on the ball and the Maryland defense headed it out of the penalty box.

The Nittany Lions served the ball to Wilson in the box, but Beardsley made the stretch to push the ball out of bounds. The ensuing corner kick was squashed by the Terrapins.

In the 29th minute, MacBean found herself taking on two defenders, juking them out but her low shot was deflected for a corner. The corner kick was taken too high and resulted in a goal kick.

Penn State won a free kick just outside the box with Cori Dyke setting up a shot for Wiesner which was saved by Beardsley for yet another corner kick. The kick was cleared by the Terrapins and Penn State couldn’t find another breakthrough.

The first half ended with Penn State leading 1-0.

The first chance of the second half for Penn State came in in the 52nd minute as Payton Linnehan found herself in a one-on-one with the goalie, but her touch wasn’t strong enough to find the back of the net.

Penn State continued to send the ball into the box before Beardsley snagged it and punted it downfield. That wasn’t enough to keep the Nittany Lions at bay as they intercepted the ball at their bench and sent it back to Linnehan. She wove through the defense before being taken down in the box but didn’t receive a foul.

Linnehan received the ball at the arc, sending a rocket at the net, but Beardsley tipped the shot into the post to deflect off. The Terrapins defense kicked the ball out of the six, but Penn State quickly won it back and Ellie Wheeler connected with the ball and volleyed it into the back of the net to give it a 2-0 lead in the 60th minute.

The Nittany Lions took a corner kick and Linnehan lined up for a shot that flew over the crossbar.

Maryland won its first corner of the game in the 66th minute but posed no real threat to Penn State who passed it around back before crossing the 50.

Penn State built up its attack, trickling the ball through to Olivia Borgen inside the box who easily smashed it into goal to make it 3-0 for Penn State in the 71st minute.

The goals kept coming on senior night and Penn State went up by four with seven minutes left. Rebecca Cooke scored a solo goal, going up against Beardsley and claiming the ball as her own to find the back of the net for the second time this season.

The Nittany Lions passed the ball around, trying some new runs and messing around with the Terrapins. They took their space, taking a last-second shot from far out that Beardsley had to push out by her fingertips. They held together with ease to secure its 4-0 win over Maryland.

Takeaways

• Penn State dominated the game with 23 shots and 10 on goal compared to Maryland’s two shots the entire game. This offense has no shortage of ideas and works together flawlessly.
• The Nittany Lions press was on point tonight. They consistently kept the ball in their attacking half, barely giving the Terrapins any time on the ball. Any counterattack was quickly intercepted and squashed with precision and control from all players tonight.
• Penn State’s defense was a brick wall tonight. It held Maryland to only two shots and one corner over 90 minutes and Asman didn’t need to make a save all night. This defense is the backbone of the team, keeping it solid behind the scenes, and can take it all the way this season.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will travel to take on Rutgers at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 21. Folks can tune in to the matchup on BTN+.