UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 10 Penn State women's soccer team earned its second win of the season Thursday night, shutting out No. 21 West Virginia 2-0 at Jeffrey Field.
The pair of second-half Nittany Lion goals were scored by Jordan Canniff and Mieke Schiemann, with assists from Payton Linnehan and Penelope Hocking. Penn State's stifling defense limited West Virginia to just nine shots as keeper Katherine Asman earned her second-straight clean sheet.
"Awesome atmosphere out here tonight on Jeffrey, obviously love playing doubleheaders with the men," said head coach Erica Dambach. "Electric energy. Two great top-25 teams. Always a battle against these guys. I'm just really proud of our group from start to finish. I thought that we played well on both sides of the ball, we matched their intensity and even took it up a notch. So, for game three, that's a real solid performance."
Penn State's win marked the Nittany Lions' second-straight shutout. The Nittany Lions have outscored their opponents 7-2 in three games thus far this season. Penn State now stands at 2-0-1 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn State had some chances in the first half, tallying four shots by the 10th minute of action, but couldn't capitalize.
The Nittany Lion defense came to play early as they held West Virginia without a shot until the 21st minute. Linnehan had back-to-back shots in the 24th minute, but came up empty on both, with the first one saved and the other curling wide.
Penn State held a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal at the end of the first half.
The Nittany Lions struck first in the 57th minute as Linnehan cut through towards the middle setting up a short cross for Canniff to send one into the back of the net. The play started with a long boot from Schiemann to give Linnehan enough space to operate and execute the assist.
Linnehan was relentless on the field, putting her foot in many plays. She led Penn State with four shots (two on goal) and one assist.
Penn State would tack on another goal in the 72nd minute via corner kick by Hocking, setting up a shot and score by Mieke Schiemann, as the sophomore defender from Berlin, Germany scored her first-career goal.
"It was an awesome feeling," Shiemann said. "I was so surprised. I didn't know how to act. Then I just ran to the bench to celebrate with my team."
With two minutes remaining in the match, Asman ran up to make a save on a free running attacker to help preserve the shutout en route to a 2-0 victory by the Nittany Lions
Penn State is now 11-7-3 all-time against the Mountaineers, dating back to the first contest in 2003. This meeting marked the 18th time in the last 22 matchups that both the Nittany Lions and the Mountaineers have been ranked dating back to 2012. The Nittany Lions now have back-to-back wins vs. West Virginia in the two ranked matchups
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions are headed on the road for the first time this season as they take on non-conference opponent Monmouth at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28 at Hesse Field in Long Branch, NJ. Monmouth sits at 3-0 on the season.
The Penn State women's soccer season is presented by the Smeal College of Business.
Game story written in part by Dylan Hausner, student assistant.
