UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Redshirt junior forward Kaitlyn MacBean headed in her second match-winning goal of the week in the 77th minute, guiding the eighth-ranked Penn State women's soccer team to a hard-fought 1-0 win over the No. 16 TCU Horned Frogs Sunday afternoon on Jeffrey Field.
With the team's third-straight win in hand, the Blue & White climb to 3-0-1 overall and remain unbeaten through four matches for the third season in a row. Out of the 30 varsity campaigns in Nittany Lion women's soccer history, just seven Blue & White squads have published a quartet of unbeaten results to start a year. The Nittany Lions recorded a victory in the first all-time meeting between PSU and TCU and claim a 2-0 record against opposition from the Big 12 Conference this year. In defeat, the Horned Frogs drop to 1-2, with both losses against United Soccer Coaches top-10 teams.
MacBean, a native of Excelsior, Minnesota, has dominated for the Blue & White in all four of her appearances this season, notching a team-best six shots on target in 2023. The redshirt junior forward scored goals in consecutive matches for the first time in her career this week, with both goals going down as match-winning scores against West Virginia and TCU. MacBean's two goals move her into a three-way tie at the top of the Nittany Lion goal-scoring leaderboard alongside redshirt sophomore midfielder Julia Raich and senior+ forward Payton Linnehan. Raich tallied the assist on MacBean's header, scoring in a match for the second time this season.
Penn State and TCU battled in a highly competitive environment Sunday afternoon, with the Nittany Lions logging a 12-8 advantage on the shot chart, while the Horned Frogs placed more shots on target, edging the Nittany Lions by a 5-4 margin. For the second straight match, Penn State tied its opponent in the corner kick battle, with both squads notching four corners apiece. A largely physical and chippy match, Penn State recorded nine fouls to TCU's seven, while the two adversaries combined for a whopping eight yellow cards overall.
Graduate goalkeeper Katherine Asman maintained her streak of dominance between the pipes for the Nittany Lions, recording a five-save shutout in 90 minutes of work. The Roswell, Georgia, native improved to 3-0-1 individually and notched her second complete-match clean sheet of the season, the 20th of her career. Asman needs just one more shutout to crack the top five all-time at Penn State. For TCU, senior goalkeeper Lauren Kellett went 90 minutes and booked three saves with a goal allowed, moving her individual record to 1-2-0.
Penn State wasted no time out of the gates offensively, seizing control of the possession early on and forcing a pair of corner kicks in the first two minutes of the competition. PSU attempted the first shot of the match less than a minute in, with a Nittany Lion header attempt sailing just over the top of the net. TCU regrouped after a sluggish start on the defensive end to apply some pressure on the Nittany Lion back line around five minutes later, with a Horned Frog right-footed attempt safely corralled by Asman toward the bottom left center of the net.
The back-and-forth affair wore on into the 24th minute when PSU mustered back-to-back shot attempts off of elite counter-attacking opportunities. A tough shot by sophomore midfielder Olivia Borgen was hauled in by Kellett, and both squads continued to search for scoring chances. TCU booked the first of their five yellow cards in the 29th, followed by their second of the match in the 40th, but Penn State failed to capitalize on the resulting set piece opportunities. Both teams returned to the locker room in a scoreless deadlock through the first 45 minutes of play.
The Nittany Lions returned from the 15-minute intermission hungry for offensive success, cranking five of the first six shots in the second half. Although PSU's early shot attempts failed to find the back of the net, the Blue & White front line continued to pepper TCU's defense with a wide variety of looks, highlighted by a slow-rolling attempt from Linnehan that barely nicked the goal's left post. Despite the Nittany Lions' attacking dominance, the Horned Frogs remained in possession of a clean sheet. The tides began to turn in the final 15 minutes of play, with the Nittany Lions winning a corner in the 77th minute after MacBean applied pressure to a Horned Frog defender on the left side of the penalty area.
After some substitutions made their way into the match for both squads, PSU served the ball from the near corner into the box, where it was batted into the right side of the 18 by Kellett. Raich stood watch as the ball found its way onto her boot, ultimately sending a high-arching feed toward the goal mouth. With a perfectly timed jump, MacBean headed the ball into the back right corner of the net for the lid-lifting score. With a one-goal lead in hand, Penn State battled hard defensively and worked down the remainder of the clock to secure the team's third-straight win.
PSU came away with its first victory of the season over a challenger ranked inside the United Soccer Coaches top-25, bringing the team's season record against ranked foes to 1-0-1. Penn State booked a draw against then-No. 2 North Carolina at Jeffrey Field on Thursday, Aug. 17, and published a victory over West Virginia earlier this week, a squad receiving votes in the most recent publication from United Soccer Coaches.
SCORING SUMMARY
77' – PSU sent a corner from the nearside into the box that was batted away by Kellett. Raich stood watch as the ball found its way onto her boot and sent a high-arching feed toward the goal mouth. MacBean timed her jump and headed the ball into the back right corner of the net. PSU 1, TCU 0
UP NEXT
No. 8 Penn State women's soccer continues its five-match homestand in non-conference competition next week, as the Nittany Lions play host to the No. 22 UCF Knights in a 7:30 p.m. kick on Jeffrey Field, the third top-25 match of the season in Happy Valley. Streaming of the match is available worldwide to authenticated subscribers via B1G+.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State women's soccer. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion women's soccer team on X and Instagram @PennStateWSOC, in addition to the team's Facebook page at /PSUWomensSoccer.
The 30th Season of Penn State women's soccer is presented by the Smeal College of Business.
