Oct. 28, 2010
Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State dominated play from beginning to end, notching a 6-1 victory over Indiana at Jeffrey Field on Thursday night. Forward Tani Costa (Honolulu, Hawaii) scored her first career hat trick to pace the Nittany Lions. It is just the 19th hat trick in Nittany Lion women's soccer history and the first since Nov. 13, 2009 by Katie Schoepfer. PSU has now won six of its last eight games and maintains third place in the Big Ten.
"It was great scoring half of my goals for the season," Costa noted afterward. "It felt really good, it was a good confidence boost. It was just a really big accomplishment."
The Penn State (8-8-1, 6-2-0 Big Ten) scoring onslaught began early when Costa was pushed in the back on a breakaway by an Indiana defender in the eighth minute. Costa stepped up to take the spot kick, notching her fourth of the year and first ever collegiate penalty kick.
Four and a half minutes later, Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.) corralled a cross from Danielle Toney (Northville, Mich.) and had her initial six-yard effort stuffed on the goal line by an Indiana defender. The rebound came directly to the sophomore midfielder who tapped it in for a 2-0 Penn State lead.
"It feels great," Head coach Erica Walsh said, "[to] get a couple goals, build some confidence and give a few players a rest. All the pieces were there tonight. [Costa] does that every day in training, literally every day. We've just been waiting for that to translate into goals in games."
In the 24th minute, the scoring continued when Megan Monroig (Northumberland, Pa.) streaked down the left wing and made a quick short cross to the near post as an onrushing Hayley Brock (Acton, Mass.) chipped it in over the right shoulder of IU goalkeeper Shannon Flower (four saves) to make it 3-0. The goal was Brock's fifth of the season.
Penn State kept up the offensive intensity, pushing toward the Indiana (5-11-1, 1-7-0 Big Ten) goal all game. After putting 13 shots on the ledger in the first frame, Costa opened the scoring in the 48th minute when Flower looked to have covered up a passing attempt about 10 yards from net, but the ball popped loose The redshirt-freshman forward coolly put the ball over Flower's head and another Indiana defender as the ball found the far right netting for a four-goal margin.
The Nittany Lions continued their pressure and just three minutes later Costa completed her hat trick in the 51st minute when she took a Toney cross from the right wing and put away the fifth goal of the night, completing the hat trick. After a nearly four-year drought of hat tricks, Penn State has seen three in a period of 12 months--two from Schoepfer (Oct. 25, 2009 vs. Illinois; Nov. 13, 2009 vs. Colgate) and tonight's by Costa--and all the hat tricks came at Jeffrey Field.
The scoring wasn't done as Flower's replacement, Lauren Hollandsworth (three saves), poorly played a ball up the field right to the feet of Toney. The senior forward made a 15-yard run and calmly put the goal away on the right side from 17 yards out to cap the Penn State scoring in the 72nd minute.
The lone setback for the Nittany Lions came just a minute later as IU's Kylin Clow played a gorgeous ball from the left wing to Darby Hannon who slotted the ball home from 18 yards out for Indiana's lone tally.
Despite the Hoosier goal, Penn State's five-goal margin was the largest ever suffered in the 20-game series. Previously, the biggest win was a 4-0 beating on Sept. 22, 2000 at Jeffrey Field. The Nittany Lions improved to 18-1-1 in the series including 10-0-0 at Jeffrey with Walsh moving to 4-0-0 personally against the Hoosiers. The goal tally sits at 45-14 all-time. Additionally, the Lions have a 16-game unbeaten streak in the series.
PSU took 27 shots in the game, while Indiana fired 12 of its own. Penn State goalkeeper Krissy Tribbett (Centennial, Colo.) made four saves on the night before giving way to Kristin Hartmann (Katy, Texas) in the 80th minute. Indiana put together eight saves between its two goalkeepers and a defensive save, while the fouls read seven for Penn State and just two for the Hoosiers. Corner kicks were in favor of Penn State, 4-1.
The Nittany Lions' six goals are the most since the Lions put a half dozen on Illinois (Oct. 25, 2009) and the second time PSU has scored at least five goals (Sept. 15 vs. Bucknell). Penn State currently has three leading scorers as Nairn, Toney and Costa each have six goals this season. Nairn owns the team-lead in points (17) while Toney and Costa each have 15. Brock is just behind the threesome with her five goals and 12 points.
Penn State hits the road to Purdue for another important game towards its NCAA Tournament and Big Ten title hopes. The game is set for 1:00 p.m. at the Varsity Soccer Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. The Nittany Lions sit in second place behind Ohio State (7-1-0 Big Ten) who plays at Indiana on Sunday.
BOX SCORE
| Team | 1st | 2nd | OT1 | OT2 | Total | Record |
| Indiana | 0 | 1 | - | - | 1 | (5-11-1, 1-7-0 Big Ten) |
| Penn State | 3 | 3 | - | - | 6 | (8-8-1, 6-2-0 Big Ten) |
Scoring Summary
PSU (7:18) - Tani Costa (4, Penalty Kick)
PSU (11:57) - Christine Nairn (6, unassisted)
PSU (23:42) - Hayley Brock (5, Megan Monroig)
PSU (47:15) - Tani Costa (5, unassisted)
PSU (50:33) - Tani Costa (6, Danielle Toney)
PSU (71:30) - Danielle Toney (6, unassisted)
IND (72:39) - Darby Hannon (2, Kaylin Clow)
Stat Summary
Shots: PSU 27, IND 12
Shots on Goal: PSU 14, IND 5
Corners: PSU 4, IND 1
Saves: PSU 4, IND 8
Fouls: PSU 7, IND 2
Offsides: PSU 4, ILL 0
Booking Summary
None
Attendance: 389
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--NITTANY LIONS--