UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's soccer team remained undefeated with a 2-1 victory over previously unbeaten Hofstra on Sunday afternoon. Payton Linnehan and Ally Schlegel both netted goals in the first half to propel Penn State to its third win of the fall season.
How it Happened
Keeping with the theme of the season so far, the Nittany Lions came out of the gates firing on all cylinders.
Nittany Lions leading scorer Payton Linnehan intercepted an errant pass by the Hofstra back line just outside of the box. Linnehan sidestepped the goalkeeper and sent her shot into the empty net to make it 1-0 Nittany Lions.
Linnehan has now scored five goals in three games for the Nittany Lions and tying her scoring output from the spring season.
Hofstra responded with four shots and earned three corner kicks in the next 10 minutes of game action. A stout Nittany Lion backline did not allow for any of these shots on net and successfully cleared away all three corners.
In the 14th minute, Jilly Shimkin played a perfect ball between two Pride defenders to Schlegel. Schlegel blasted a shot beyond the outstretched hands of the Hofstra keeper to put the Nittany Lions up 2-0.
Six minutes later, Penn State was the victim of an unfortunate redirection. A shot from Miri Taylor sent a shot on net that was redirected into the net to cut the Penn State lead to 2-1.
The teams went into the half with Penn State up 2-1.
The second half saw Hofstra continually pressing the Penn State back line in an attempt to tie the match. Penn State's defense limited the Pride's chance's, allowing just one shot on goal in the final 45 minutes of action.
The one shot on goal game in the 85th minute and Katherine Asman made a diving save to keep the Nittany Lions ahead.
Penn State maintained the possession for the final five minutes of action and ran out the remaining time on the game clock.
Notes
Penn State improved to 3-0 and 8-0 all-time vs. Hofstra. The 3-0 start is the longest undefeated streak to start the season since 2017, also 3-0.
Payton Linnehan's five goals and 12 points lead the team through three games. Linnehan has had a hand in seven of Penn State's eight goals so far this season.
Ally Schlegel scored the 26th goal of her career in Sunday's win. It was her second game-winning goal of the season and the ninth of her career. Schlegel 26 goals have come in just 44 games for the junior.
