No. 8 seed Penn State women’s soccer (10-8-3, 5-4-2 Big Ten) was eliminated by No. 1 seed Virginia (14-3-4, 6-2-2 ACC) 2-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia. This is Penn State’s earliest exit in the NCAA Tournament since 2016.

After both teams met earlier in the regular season, Virginia came out strong, dominating possession with Penn State struggling to get the ball out of its own half. Penn State had two great scoring opportunities, but couldn’t convert on either due to big saves by Virginia goalkeeper Victoria Safradin. In the 33rd minute, Virginia took a 1-0 lead on a shot by Cagle that was deflected before the first half came to an end.

In the second half, Penn State struggled to break down Virginia’s defense, putting its defense on the back foot. In the 67th minute, Mackenzie Gress made the mental mistake of trying to grab the ball off a Virginia header that looked to go out of bounds. This led to a Virginia corner, and Godfrey scored to extend the Cavaliers’ lead to two. The Nittany Lions had many scoring opportunities, but they couldn’t get past Safradin, and Virginia ended Penn State’s season with a scoreline of 2-0.

How It Happened

Penn State head coach Erica Dambach went with the same starting 11 and formation of 4-4-2 from the win against Army. The game started with Virginia dictating possession on Penn State’s half. In the 3rd minute, the Cavaliers won the first corner of the game, and they couldn’t threaten the Nittany Lions as Gress made an easy grab on Virginia’s header.

Virginia continued to dictate on the attack, and Virginia’s Maggie Cagle played a cross into Penn State’s final third where Carrie Helfrich was wide open. However, Helfrich could not reach the ball on the cross with her foot, and the ball went out of bounds for a Penn State goal kick. The Nittany Lions struggled to get the ball out of their own half as Virginia continued to dominate possession.

In the 12th minute, Addison Halpern drove the ball into Penn State’s backline before passing the ball to Helfrich, who was open on the right flank. She took an extra touch before shooting the ball with her left foot, but her shot went off-target. After this chance, Penn State got the ball out of its half and went on the attack. It gained its first corner of the game, and Kayleigh Herr’s tap shot forced Virginia goalkeeper Victoria Safradin to make her first save of the game.

The Nittany Lions started to settle into the game, and in the 20th minute, they earned another corner kick. Riley Gleason played the cross toward Lilly Burger for a header, but her header went wide left. After the Cavaliers tested the Nittany Lions’ defense with a slew of shots, Penn State’s offense went on the counterattack. Amelia White ran down the right flank, where she managed to take a high-powered shot, but Safradin made an incredible save before Riley Cross’s shot was deflected and cleared out of danger.

Virginia had two scoring chances that went off-target. In the 29th minute, Penn State won another corner. It came close to taking the lead on a shot by Kaitlyn MacBean, but her shot went high above the crossbar. Three minutes later, Jill Flammia’s shot forced Gress to make a leg save, but Cagle was there for the rebound. Her shot was deflected by Molly Martin, and the ball went above Gress’s head into the back of the net as Virginia broke the deadlock.

The tempo of the game significantly slowed down after Virginia’s goal. With three minutes left in the first half, the Cavaliers came close to extending their lead to two on Lia Godfrey’s shot, but it went wide right. That was the last scoring chance as the first half came to an end with Virginia holding a 1-0 lead.

Just like the first half, the Cavaliers went on the front foot to start the second half as they had a slew of shots. Halpern played a long ball to Meredith McDermott, who managed to break the Nittany Lions’ high line, putting her one-on-one against Gress. This forced Gress to come out of her line, and she managed to push the ball off McDermott’s foot before the ball went out for a Penn State goal kick.

Both teams struggled to create any dangerous opportunities for the next 10 minutes as they went back and forth. In the 57th minute, White committed a foul, giving a free kick to Virginia. The cross was played into Penn State’s final third, and the defense stood tall as Herr made a crucial header to end the Cavaliers’ dangerous set-piece opportunity.

With 30 minutes left in the game, the Nittany Lions started to play the high press in desperate need of an equalizer. White threatened to tie the game with her shot, but it went wide right. In the 67th minute, Halpern headed the ball that looked to go out of bounds for a Penn State goal kick. However, Gress made the mental mistake of trying to grab the ball instead of letting it go out of bounds and couldn’t hold on to it, leading to a Virginia corner.

This mistake came back to haunt her as the Cavaliers extended their lead to two off the corner with a goal by Godfrey. After this goal, Penn State piled up its numbers on the attack, hoping to cut its deficit to one. However, Virginia went on the counter and had a chance to put the game out of hand on Godfrey’s shot, but Gress made the save.

The Cavaliers’ defense continued to hold strong as they refused to let the Nittany Lions get a scoring opportunity. In the 71st minute, Virginia went on the counterattack with a two-on-one advantage. The ball was played to an open Pearl Cecil, but Gress made a save. The rebound went towards Flammia, who took a shot outside the box. Gress made another save before Penn State cleared away the danger to keep it within two goals.

Penn State took two shots but never managed to threaten to score on those opportunities. The Cavaliers look on their way to increasing their lead to three on a shot by Godfrey, but once again, Gress made a huge save. With 11 minutes left, the Nittany Lions earned a free kick as Bella Ayscue played the cross into Virginia’s final third. Kennedy Ring was there for the header, and she came close to scoring as Safradin made the diving save.

In desperation for a goal, Penn State continued to press, and Julia Raich’s shot came close to going in as Safradin made an incredible diving save to keep Virginia’s lead at two. The Nittany Lions continued to threaten with a flurry of scoring chances, but they could not score a goal as the game came to an end with the Cavaliers winning 2-0.

Takeaways

• Virginia was very dominant on the attack, taking 21 shots compared to Penn State’s 13. It got off to fast starts in both halves, dominating possession of the ball, and putting Penn State’s backline on the back foot throughout most of the game. This led to the Cavaliers beating the Nittany Lions once again.
• Despite the loss, Penn State played much better than it did in its previous game against Virginia. In its first meeting, it only had one shot on target. Tonight, it eclipsed this total in the first half with two before finishing the game with four shots on target. However, it could never manage to get the ball into the back of the net.
• Even though the Cavaliers had more scoring opportunities than the Nittany Lions, a lot of credit has to go to Virginia goalkeeper Victoria Safradin, who made four amazing saves that allowed the Cavaliers to shut out the Nittany Lions. Without her contributions, the scoreline could have been much different.

What’s Next?

Penn State has been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, so its season has come to an end.