No. 8 Penn State women’s soccer (5-1-1) drew No. 23 Georgetown (3-1-2) in its afternoon road tilt with the Hoyas on Sunday.

Scoring chances were plentiful for both sides, with the best chance coming off of the foot of Olivia Damico on a penalty kick.

How It Happened

After an uneventful opening 15 minutes, Natalie Wilson nearly opened the scoring with a fantastic scoring chance from the penalty area, but Erika Harwood blocked the ball out of bounds to keep the match scoreless.

Penn State was awarded an ensuing corner, although nothing came of this opportunity as Georgetown cleared the ball away from danger. Shortly after, the Hoyas were awarded a corner of their own, where the ball found the foot of Harwood who fired another cross through traffic but once again nothing came of the opportunity and Penn State cleared.

With just under 20 minutes remaining in the half, Georgetown had its first true scoring chance as Natalie Means rushed up the left side of the field and fired a cross to Claire Manning, who sailed the ensuing shot over the crossbar.

After shoulder-to-shoulder contact between a Penn State and Georgetown defender, the Nittany Lions were awarded a penalty kick with a chance to take the lead. As Damico lined up to take the kick, she fired a line drive to the bottom right corner of the net but a fantastic save from Cara Martin kept the game scoreless.

As the half came to a close, Jocelyn Lohmeyer received a pass lofted from midfield and fired a shot from just inside the penalty area, but it was blocked out of play by Penn State and Georgetown was awarded a corner kick. Nothing came of the corner, however, as Penn State kept the match scoreless.

The Nittany Lions held possession and suffocated the Georgetown backline in the final three minutes of the half but were unable to find a breakthrough opportunity and the teams left the field knotted up at 0-0.

Georgetown was all over the Penn State defense to begin the second half as the Hoyas had multiple quality scoring chances they just missed the mark on.

After the initial onslaught by the Hoyas, Penn State managed to weather the storm and began to get out of its own end. With just under 20 minutes gone in the half, Georgetown was awarded a free kick where Shay Montgomery knocked a quick pass to Eliza Turner, who fired a pass into the penalty area where two Hoyas had an opportunity to knock the ball in, but neither were successful and the game remained scoreless.

Penn State had its first true scoring chance after getting awarded a free kick with 17 minutes remaining in the match. Julia Raich fired a beautiful ball into the penalty area where it deflected back to Aubrey Kulpa who fired a shot that was blocked away by Georgetown defenders giving Penn State a corner kick. Once again, nothing came of the corner for Penn State and the Hoyas cleared.

Shortly after the failed corner attempt, Bella Ayscue rushed up the left side and split two defenders before attempting to send a ball through to Raich. New goalkeeper Anna Karpenko sniffed this out, however, and she stepped up to snag the ball away.

Play stopped with 3:22 remaining for an injury to Amelia White, who appeared to land awkwardly after leaping over the goalkeeper Karpenko. Once play resumed, neither Penn State nor Georgetown were able to get one final scoring opportunity and the game ended in a draw.

Takeaways

• A generally strong offensive team, the Nittany Lions were held scoreless for the first time this season, but this doesn’t mean the team was devoid of opportunities. Penn State controlled possession in the Georgetown end for extended periods and was issued its fair share of corners, but the Nittany Lions were unable to make that one final touch to convert.
• After her scorching hot start of scoring in five consecutive games, Kaitlyn MacBean was held goalless for the second consecutive game and was unable to muster any true scoring chances. The Hoyas backline zeroed in on the Penn State star and kept her in check.
• The Penn State backline was fantastic throughout, but its shining moment was in the opening 10 minutes of the second half when it felt like Georgetown would open the scoring. Even with surrendering scoring chance after scoring chance, Penn State never broke.

What’s Next?

Penn State women’s soccer returns to Jeffrey Field to open Big Ten play against Michigan at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 12. The game will be streamed on BTN+.