Penn State women’s soccer continues winning streak with shutout victory over Michigan
After back-to-back losses that caused it to fall in the top 25 rankings, Penn State is making a comeback.
After their 3-0 win against Wisconsin on Thursday, the Nittany Lions were eager to continue their winning streak, and that’s exactly what they did in Sunday’s matchup against Michigan.
The game was intense right off the bat, as both teams put pressure on one another with early offensive attacks.
The Nittany Lions immediately set the pace with a long ball up the line to senior Ally Schlegel, who sent a cross into the box, creating a dangerous scoring opportunity just four minutes in. The Wolverines then returned the favor with a short breakaway up the middle, but the ball was picked off by Penn State’s defense.
Less than two minutes later, junior forward Ellie Wheeler gained possession and drove the ball up the left side of the field. She took it to the corner where she sent a perfectly placed cross into the box, which was headed in by Schlegel, putting Penn State in the lead 1-0.
Although the Wolverines were able to maintain possession of the ball into the attacking third, the Penn State defensive line left them absolutely no room to work with. Their first shot on goal didn’t come until the 25th minute, and was saved by Penn State goalkeeper Katherine Asman.
The Nittany Lions continued to take shot after shot until the very end of the first half when Ellie Wheeler came speeding up the sideline, crossing the ball to Kaitlyn MacBean, who buried the ball in the upper right corner.
Coming into the second half, the Nittany Lions were on their heels for just a few minutes, allowing the Wolverines a free kick in front of the box, but it was collected by Asman, and Penn State was quickly back on the attack.
Just seven minutes into the second half, senior midfielder Payton Linnehan had a breakaway up the middle of the field, dribbling right through the gap in the Wolverine defense. Her shot was deflected by Michigan goalkeeper Izzy Nino, but Schlegel was there to score off the rebound. This put the Nittany Lions up 3-0 and put Schlegel at 100 career points.
“I didn’t even know. I forgot,” said Schlegel. “I was sitting on the bench next to Cori [Dyke] and [Kate Wiesner], and I’m just like, ‘Cori, I think that was my 100th point,’” Schlegel said.
Even though she may not have realized it on the field, the achievement was still special to her.
“I’m so grateful. It’s a big moment,” Schlegel said.
The Nittany Lions remained on the attack throughout the second half as the student section sang and kept the crowd alive. Both teams continued to battle until the very end, but the Wolverines just couldn’t get past Penn State’s well-organized defense and outstanding goalkeeper.
As they move on to their next two games as well as the Big Ten Tournament, the Nittany Lions look to capitalize on more of their scoring opportunities.
“We had too many chances, too many big chances that we didn’t put away,” coach Erica Dambach said. “We’ve got to be better in those moments. We’ve got to put those chances away.”
The Nittany Lions will go on to face Nebraska in an away game this Thursday at 8 p.m.
Anna Licastro is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email arl5942@psu.edu.
