Penn State Women’s Soccer Claims 6-0 Senior Day Victory
The Penn State Nittany Lions clashed with the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday afternoon on senior day. The Nittany Lions came to play and came away with a dominant victory by a score of 6-0.
The match got off to a quick start as Peyton Linnehan scored a beautiful fast break goal just over two minutes into the match. Linnehan took the perfect pass from Frankkie Tagliaferri, and she executed a near perfect chip over the Terrapin goalkeeper’s head giving Penn State an early 1-0 advantage.
The match continued quickly with two more Nittany Lion goals within the first 16 minutes of the match. Tagliaferri scored one of her own, and Rachel Wasserman tacked on the third goal of the first half.
With the 3-0 lead in the opening half, the Nittany Lions were able to hold possession for most of the remainder of the first half. They went into halftime up by three goals with an advantage in shots on goal of 10 to the Terrapins one.
Penn State created a near replica of the first half in the second scoring three more goals in just over nine minutes to extend their lead to 6-0. Ally Schlegel scored a pair and Tagliaferri converted her second goal of the afternoon.
Tagliaferri’s second goal came off an assist from the lone senior that was recognized on this senior day, Kristin Schnurr. Schnurr was emotional after the game when she talked about how it felt to get an assist in her final game at Jeffrey Field.
“It was so great, obviously I love scoring goals but being able to see your teammates score and to celebrate with them, it makes me tear up thinking about it,” Schnurr said. “I just love when our team succeeds.”
Schnurr, who’s first semester at Penn State was in the spring of 2015, got very emotional when she talked about the locker room following the senior day win.
“I’m very emotional because this team means so much and we are just so united,” Schnurr said. “I’m just really happy to continue winning with this team this spring.”
Schnurr has certainly had an immense impact on this Nittany Lion team and is a very big reason for why this Penn State team has been so successful this season. Head coach Erica Dambach sang her praises for Schnurr after the game as well.
“What I appreciate so much about Kristin Schnurr is that we have open honest conversations, she is one that is full of confidence for all the right reasons,” Dambach said. “She’s confident in her preparation, in her team-first mentality, in her dedication to this program, and even during the days where she was injured and she was rehabbing she brought value to this team.”
This Penn State team was clearly quite happy that they were able to secure this victory on senior day for its veteran leader.
The Big Ten regular-season champion Nittany Lions finish the regular season with a 9-1-1 record and will be back in action in the Big Ten Tournament where they will look to secure back to back tournament championships.
Trevor Grady is a junior majoring in management information systems. To contact him, email tmg5685@psu.edu
