No. 22 Penn State Women’s Soccer Beats Minnesota 1-0 In First Round Of Big Ten Tournament
No. 22 Penn State women’s soccer (12-5-3, 6-4-2 Big Ten) beat Minnesota (12-4-3, 6-4-2 Big Ten) 1-0 in the dying minutes of the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday night.
A hard-fought defensive battle looked like it was surely going into extra time before Mieke Schiemann carefully tucked in a ball off of a free kick in the last two minutes. The Nittany Lions ran away with an extremely gritty win to keep their season alive.
How It Happened
Minnesota’s Paige Kalal tested the Penn State defense early by poking a volley toward goal, which ultimately deflected. Penn State keeper Mackenzie Gress registered her first save of the night after a deflection awkwardly redirected a shot on goal. Another Golden Gopher possession directly after that save created a clear chance for the isolated Carolina Birdsell, but the Minnesota attacker’s shot wavered off target to close out an eventful opening five minutes.
Nittany Lion leading scorer Kaitlyn MacBean got Penn State going offensively. She fired a left-footed shot at the edge of the box toward goal, forcing Minnesota keeper Sarah Martin to get down low. The shot ultimately zipped past the near post.
The Golden Gophers automatically marched the other way to create another opportunity. Gress pushed the ball out of bounds after an additional deflection from the Penn State defense, leading to a Minnesota corner. The Nittany Lions cleared the ball after the corner.
Minnesota won its second corner of the night in the 13th minute. The Golden Gophers played it short, leading to another cross into the box from further up the right side. Gress stepped up to punch the ball out of the box and collided with multiple players. Penn State won a free kick.
After a defensive miscue by the Nittany Lions, Minnesota’s Khyah Harper zoomed in between two Penn State defenders to rifle a shot at the bottom right corner of the net. Gress denied the ball with a strong left hand, keeping the score level after many Minnesota chances in the first fifteen minutes.
After the match settled down for 10 minutes or so with both teams passing the ball around, MacBean sparked an attack after splitting between two Golden Gopher defenders. She threaded the ball to Jordan Fusco, who had an ultra-clear shot on goal from around the penalty spot. She shot the ball powerfully towards the far post, but Martin fully extended to somehow keep the ball out. Both teams exchanged extremely close chances with both keepers making impressive saves.
In the 28th minute, Minnesota led an attack down the right side. Harper laced another shot on goal, which Gress spectacularly stopped to keep the score level.
The Golden Gophers produced a solid chance with eight minutes remaining in the half. Taylor Heimerl outpaced the Penn State defense and whipped in a cross, but a Nittany Lion blocked the ensuing shot. Minnesota regained possession and fed Kalal up top. She shot on goal, but the ball narrowly soared right over the crossbar, gifting Gress a goal kick. That was the final shot of the first half, keeping the match knotted at zero through 45 minutes.
Minnesota started off the second half on the front foot, quickly firing two good looks at goal. Kaelyn Wolfe skillfully danced her way around the edge of the box on Penn State’s next possession, trying to get a shot off. Minnesota regained possession and passed all the way up to Penn State’s box. Birdsell launched a curling ball from the near right side of the box, inch-close to scoring a wonder goal if Gress didn’t heroically shove the ball out of bounds.
GRESS TO IMPRESS. WHAT A SAVE FROM MACK
— Penn State Women’s Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) November 2, 2024
2H | 53:11 | PSU 0, MINN 0#WeAre | #PSWS pic.twitter.com/00TEVKOe5K
Fifteen minutes through the second half, both teams remained stout defensively with little opportunity to get clear shots on target.
Minnesota’s defense almost made a crucial mistake in the 64th minute, as neither of the last two defenders went for the loose ball in the box. MacBean closed in, almost powering a shot toward goal, but a Golden Gopher cleared it at the last second. MacBean did get a shot off in the next minute, but a slip weakened the power on the ball.
Minnesota won a corner in the 69th minute, showcasing some creativity in their build-up. The Golden Gophers created space for a shot on goal, but a complete whiff from an attacker led to a Penn State goal kick.
The Nittany Lions pushed the ball all the way up to Elle Kershner after the goal kick. Kershner unloaded a similar shot to that of Kalal’s in the first half, slightly going too high over the crossbar. A minute later, Jordan Fusco shot an identical ball to that of Kershner’s. The ball’s shot at the left goal sailed over the crossbar for the third time on the night.
Penn State had their best chance of the half blown dead for offside. Even without the offside call, Martin stepped up to the ball to make a burly save.
The Golden Gophers began to run rampant on the Penn State defense through the last 10 minutes. They launched shot after shot at goal, even if most were off target. The Nittany Lions couldn’t retain the ball in Minnesota’s half for a sustained period of time.
Minnesota won a free kick in the final three minutes. The Golden Gophers spread the ball out wide instead of sending it into the box, but Kalal mishit the strike.
Kate Childers committed a hard foul on MacBean at the top of the box, resulting in a yellow card. The Nittany Lions won a set piece at a very favorable position with just over 90 seconds left in the match. Penn State set the ball up for Schiemann, who expertly curled the ball into the bottom right corner to put the Nittany Lions up 1-0 in the dying light of the match.
Penn State pushed everyone back for the last 90 seconds and ran the clock out to complete the win.
Takeaways
- Every time Penn State launched a counterattack, Minnesota hustled back defensively to slow the Nittany Lions down immensely. Penn State will need to clean this up and retain their speed on counterattacks going forward in the tournament.
- The Nittany Lions do not win this game without Mackenzie Gress between the sticks. Gress made impressive save after impressive save to keep Penn State in the game and lead them to the win.
- Just like Gress, Mieke Schiemann played the most impressive and gritty game out of all of Penn State’s field players. She consistently shut down Minnesota attacks and scored the game-winning goal as a defender.
What’s Next?
Penn State moves on to the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals against UCLA at 4 p.m. on Monday, November 4, at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.
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