No. 9 Penn State women’s soccer (3-0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) defeated Santa Clara 2-0 (1-0-3, 0-0 WCC) on Thursday night at Jeffrey Field in its Military Appreciation match.  

Santa Clara came out extremely aggressive, giving the Nittany Lions little room to find the back of the net in the first half. However, they were able to find their rhythm in the second half with Aubrey Kulpa scoring two goals early on.

The Nittany Lions maintained possession for most of the game, giving the Broncos few opportunities to convert. While Penn State came out on top, it was a hard fought battle by both teams.  

How It Happened   

Penn State head coach Erica Dambach rolled out with the same starting 11 from the last three matches in hopes of winning their third straight match. Santa Clara came out aggressive, but the Nittany Lions responded well with an early opportunity on goal by Amelia White; however, it was recovered by the Broncos goalie Ally Reynolds. The Broncos quickly counteracted with midfielder Golden looking for teammate Ava in the corner, but Golden hit the ball a little too hard, returning possession to the Nittany Lions.

White made her presence known early, charging down the center of the field. White was able to get the ball to Kulpa, giving the Nittany Lions a promising look; however, Kulpa was unable to get off the cross. The battle in the midfield continued with a hard fought battle between Penn State’s Kaitlyn MacBean and the Bronco’s Molly Yamamoto. MacBean was able to get the throw in, giving the Nittany Lions an opportunity in the box, but they were unable to convert.    

Tensions rose midway through the match when Jalana Kimber elbowed Penn State’s Molly Martin to the ground, earning Penn State a dangerous free kick. Riley Gleason launched a deep ball to Hannah Jordan near the lower side of the box, but the ball sailed over Jordan’s head letting yet another scoring opportunity slip away.  

Kulpa was active across the field, even getting an opportunity for the blue and white as she powered down the flank of the field, but was stopped by a clean slide clearance from Malia Yamamoto. With 19 minutes left in the first half the Broncos got an opportunity when Malin Orozco delivered a well-placed corner kick, only for it to be cleared by Bella Ayscue in a crucial defensive play for the Nittany Lions.  

Coach Dambach made her first substitution of the game with 15:30 remaining in the first half, subbing Riley Cross in for Kulpa. The Broncos continued to push back producing a foul from Kaelyn Wolfe after she pulled Orozco to the ground, however the Santa Clara was unable to make anything of their free kick.  

As the clock wound down, the Broncos gained momentum, posing a few threats, but the Nittany Lions back line stood firm. Despite a few more opportunities for the Penn State offense at the end of the first half, the Nittany Lions were unable to finish in the final third, sending both teams into halftime scoreless.  

The Nittany Lions came out strong in the second half, producing opportunities early on. Only two minutes into the second half, MacBean played a beautiful ball to White in the box, but White was quickly called offside. The blue and white continued to push down field, with Gleason working her way through the Broncos defense and eventually finding Kulpa, who slipped the ball into the bottom left of the goal to earn the first goal of the game and put the Nittany Lions on the board in the 49^th minute.  

Penn State didn’t stop there, earning its second goal of the game in the 55^th minute as Kulpa was able to find the back of the net again, off a corner kick from Martin and assist fr from White. Penn State maintained good possession, keeping the ball out of its side of the field for most of the second half.  

With eight minutes left in the game, the Broncos got a huge opportunity with a mistouch from Ayscue which almost resulted in an own-goal. This gave the them another opportunity with a corner kick, but Penn State was able to successfully clear the ball. The Broncos continued their aggression in the center of the field, with hopes of putting their team on the board, but were unable to convert giving Penn State a 2-0 win over the Broncos.

Takeaways

• Aubrey Kulpa made a significant impact in this win tonight as she scored two goals and created multiple opportunities for the Nittany Lions on offense.

• Penn State struggled to find the back of the net early in the game with a few missed opportunities. It came out with high pressure in the second half, finally putting a score on the board in the 49th minute and converting again in the 55th minute.

• Despite the aggression from the Broncos, Penn State was able to keep its composure and stay strong, maintaining possession most of the game and giving the Broncos very little opportunities to convert.

What’s Next  

The Nittany Lions will return to Jeffrey Field to take on James Madison at 6 p.m. on Sunday, August 31. The game will be streamed on BTN +.