Sept. 14, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 8 Penn State women's soccer team opened the 2017 Big Ten regular season with a 3-0 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats Thursday night at Jeffrey Field. Three Nittany Lions found the back of the net, while a pair of Penn Staters combined to keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard.
With the victory, Penn State improves to 5-2-0 (1-0-0 B1G) on the year, while Northwestern falls to 3-4-1 (0-1-0 B1G).
"It was a great night here at Jeffrey Field," head coach Erica Dambach said. "I thought that it was a great way to start off Big Ten play by putting a couple in the back of the net, and anytime you get a shut out in the Big Ten it is huge. I am proud of the performance tonight; it was a very professional performance. We had players come off the bench that gave us a big boost, which was a great start to the Big Ten season."
It didn't take long for the Nittany Lions to find the back of the net, as Megan Schafer (Langhorne, Pa.) tallied Penn State's fastest goal to start a game this season Thursday night at 3:03.
In the fourth minute of action, Brittany Basinger (Purcellville, Va.) swung the ball into the box to Schafer from distance. From eight yards out, Schafer connected on a header and put the ball into the bottom-left corner of the net for the Nittany Lion tally. On the goal, Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.) was credited with the second assist for her 83rd career point.
Penn State added to its lead in the 42nd minute on Emily Ogle's (Strongsville, Ohio) fourth goal of the season. Following a foul by Northwestern outside the penalty area, Ogle placed the ball around the Northwestern wall and into the bottom-right corner from 24 yards out on the free kick.
The Nittany Lions controlled the first half of action, as the Penn State outshot Northwestern, 15-2, during the opening 45 minutes of action. The Wildcats tallied their first shot attempt of the match in the 40th minute and in the 43rd minute, Rose Chandler (Atlanta, Ga.) made a key save to keep Northwestern off the board.
From 30 yards out, Grace Orndorff fired a shot underneath the crossbar, but Chandler was there to punch the ball out of play and keep the score 2-0 in favor of the Nittany Lions heading into halftime.
Early in the second half, the Penn State offense picked up where it left off in the first half. The Nittany Lions added to their lead in the 48th minute on Charlotte Williams' (Rochester, N.Y.) first goal of the season. From inside the box, Crouse played the ball to Williams behind the Wildcat defense and from eight yards out, she beat Northwestern goalkeeper Lauren Clem to make it a 3-0 contest for the Nittany Lions.
During the 66th minute, sophomore Amanda Dennis (San Diego, Calif.) made her season-debut, as she replaced Chandler in goal. Following the change in net, Dennis faced one shot, but it went wide.
In net, Chandler finished the evening with two saves, while Clem tallied a seven-save outing.
The Nittany Lions close out the opening weekend of Big Ten play against Illinois on Sunday, Sept. 17. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. start at Jeffrey Field.
NOTES: Penn State outshot Northwestern, 17-7...Penn State leads the all-time series against Northwestern, 24-3-0...The Nittany Lions improve to 68-6-6 at Jeffrey Field since the start of the 2011 season...Penn State is now 141-10-4 when scoring at least two goals under Coach Dambach...The Nittany Lions are now 188-27-13 in Big Ten contests all-time, including a record of 103-6-5 at home...Penn State has scored at least three goals in four contests this year...The Nittany Lions recorded their third shutout of the season...Emily Ogle scored the 14th goal of her career, which ranks 23rd all-time at Penn State...Frannie Crouse tallied a pair of assists, which gives her sole possession of 12th all-time in points at Penn State with 84...Crouse tied a career-best two-assist outing Thursday night...Megan Schafer scored her 27th career goal, which ranks 17th all-time at PSU...Schafer netted her 10th game-winning goal, which is tied for 15th all-time at PSU (Convey '99)...Schafer is now tied for 19th all-time at PSU in points with 71 (Smith '03).