Sept. 27, 2012
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s soccer team fell to No. 8 Penn State, 3-0, Thursday evening at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. With the loss, the Buckeyes fall to 7-4-0, 2-2-0 in Big Ten play, while the Nittany Lions improve to 9-2-0, 4-0-0 in conference play.
“I was proud of our collective effort as a team tonight,” head coach Lori Walker said. “There were a lot of really good things that happened but their goal scorers found the back of the net. That’s an excellent Penn State team and it’s always a chess match and a fun game to be a part of. Although the score did not show it, we made a lot of improvements tonight.”
The Nittany Lions took the lead in the 25th minute when Tani Costa received a pass from Mallory Weber at the top of the box, dribbled around a Buckeye defender and finished far post past Ohio State goalkeeper Rachel Middleman for the 1-0 advantage.
Less than a minute later, the Buckeyes had a chance of their own when Tiffany Cameron controlled a failed clearance from Penn State goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom and tried to flick from 25 yards out but a leaping Eckerstrom was able to make the save. It appeared Eckerstrom got a hand on the ball well outside of the box, which would have resulted in a red card, but no call was made and Penn State held on to the lead.
With less than three minutes left in the first half, the Nittany Lions doubled their lead on the fifth goal of the season by Maya Hayes. Middleman made a diving save on a shot from 20 yards but Hayes finished the rebound from six yards for the 2-0 Penn State lead.
Ohio State came out strong in the second half, tallying a pair of early chances. In the 58th minute, Cameron possessed on the near left wing, dribbled in and fired a shot from six yards but Eckerstrom was able to make a lunging save. Caroline Murray followed up with a shot from inside the six-yard box on the rebound but Eckerstrom came up bit once again to make the diving save.
Three minutes later, Murray drilled a shot from 20 yards out that caromed off the crossbar and out of play. In the 68th minute, Murray hit another crossbar, this time from the top of the box as Penn State held on to the 2-0 lead.
The Nittany Lions then made it 3-0 in the 71st minute when Christine Nairn launched a shot from 35 yards that snuck under the crossbar and out of the reach of Ohio State goalkeeper Jillian McVicker.
For the game, Ohio State held a 22-14 advantage in shots, including 9-7 on goal.
Ohio State is back in action against Wisconsin at 1 p.m. Sunday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
