Penn State women’s soccer demolished Stony Brook 8-1 on Saturday to kick off its NCAA Tournament with five different goalscorers joining the action.

Kaitlyn MacBean, Bella Ayscue, Katie Scott, Rebecca Cooke, and Aubrey Kulpa hit the back of the net as Ayscue and Scott scored their first career Penn State goals.

“One of the strengths of this team is depth,” head coach Erica Dambach said. “We’ve been saying it all season long, and these guys committed themselves all summer, and our availability is fantastic right now. I think these guys are coming in and hitting their stride, and it’s exactly what you want in November and this time of year.”

Ayscue has played in every game this season as a freshman, and despite being a defender, found herself with multiple opportunities in front of goal, notching a goal and assist.

“I’m speechless talking about it. I mean, I think getting the assist, I was just ecstatic,” Ayscue said. “And then when I scored I was like, ‘Wow this is really happening.’ I’m just speechless. It’s hard to put into words.”

Fellow freshman Scott also notched a goal on the night in her first game back after playing with the United States’ U17 Women’s Youth National Team. Scott also faced an injury at the start of the season but showed off her true talent in the win.

“She’s playing back to where she was before the injury. You see her ticket, you see her flying up and down the flank, and that’s Katie Scott we know and love,” Dambach said.

Dambach touched on the camaraderie on the team and the strong freshmen class that has been supported by the upperclassmen adding to the team’s success.

Alongside the strong freshmen showing, Rebecca Cooke notched a brace and assist in the game as she led the attack in the second half. Working behind the scenes, though, was the midfield that stepped up to play the ball through after some struggles throughout the season.

“I think where it really started to click tonight as the forwards started to play off each other a little bit better, adding numbers into the midfield while also threatening the opponent’s back line,” Dambach said.

Being able to rely on the attack depth on the team and filling the middle of the field up allowed the Nittany Lions to take the time they needed to set up quality plays and not force anything over the top. They relied on Ayscue and Jordan Fusco’s chemistry in the opening 20 minutes, but the strong start allowed Penn State to make substitutions and spread the wealth to those in the back lines.

Penn State even brought in goalkeeper Amanda Poorbaugh to replace Mackenzie Gress to not overwork any players ahead of the next round without any dip in quality.

The talent of Penn State has propelled it to the NCAA Tournament for the 30th consecutive year and will allow countless combinations for it to rely on in the coming games.

“We’re going to use our depth,” Dambach said. “We’re going to run players through, and we’ve got a lot of players in this group that we can trust and we trust can put in some real quality minutes for us, and obviously that’s only going to help us.”