TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Iced by redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean’s 16th tally of the season and sixth match-winning goal of the 2024 campaign, the fourth-seeded and 22nd-ranked Penn State women’s soccer team recorded a 1-0 victory over fifth-seeded and seventh-ranked TCU on Friday afternoon in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championships from Seminole Soccer Complex on the campus of Florida State University. The win guaranteed Penn State’s eighth-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament Third Round, marking the longest active Sweet 16 streak in Division I.
Penn State’s historic run of success on the sport’s biggest stage continued following Friday’s showing in North Florida, as the Nittany Lions inched ahead of top-seeded Florida State for the longest active streak of NCAA Tournament third round appearances in Division I. Should the Seminoles advance past Vanderbilt Friday evening, the PSU and Florida State will once again be tied for the longest streak of Sweet 16 berths in the nation. The Nittany Lions mustered their 65th all-time victory in the national postseason, improving to 65-27-3 in the NCAA Tournament since the program’s first appearance 30 years ago. PSU’s stretch of eight-straight Sweet 16’s is paired with the second-longest active NCAA Tournament appearance streak in the nation, with PSU looking to play for its 15th appearance in the national quarterfinals on Sunday evening.
As Friday afternoon turned to Friday evening, the Nittany Lions improved to 14-6-3 overall through their 23rd match of the 2024 season, one of the most battle-tested runs in Penn State program history. The Blue & White squared off against their 11th nationally ranked opponent of the season and mustered their highest-ranked win of the campaign over the seventh-ranked Horned Frogs in Tallahassee. PSU booked a win against an opponent ranked inside the United Soccer Coaches Poll’s top 10 for the first time since logging a 4-0 thrashing of then-No. 8 Texas Tech on opening night of the regular season on Thursday, August 15.
In the all-time series against the Horned Frogs, Penn State picked up its second consecutive victory and second-straight 1-0 win dating to last year’s regular season fixture in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions battled the Horned Frogs in the national postseason for the first time ever, matching last year’s one-goal triumph by utilizing the same match-winning goal scorer in MacBean. In defeat, the Horned Frogs close out their 2024 season with a 17-4-2 overall record paired with an unblemished 9-0-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play. The Horned Frogs cap off their season with a Big 12 regular season championship and Big 12 Tournament finalist appearance to their credit this year.
Although the Nittany Lions took home the victory to advance to their eighth-straight Sweet 16, the Horned Frogs were able to put up a tremendous challenge to Penn State’s nationally elite defensive unit. TCU secured a 15-3 margin on the final shot chart and out-paced PSU by a 4-1 mark in terms of on-target shot attempts. The Horned Frogs maintained the balance of possession in both halves of play, maintaining control of the ball for approximately 59% of the match despite being unable to find the back of the net. TCU attempted six corners compared to zero corner attempts from the Nittany Lions, but Penn State was still able to generate the two most dangerous offensive chances of the match in the second half. In the referee’s score book, each team was saddled with a caution, with a yellow issued to the PSU bench and to TCU’s Camryn Lancaster in the second half of the fixture. PSU was also whistled for 10 fouls in the match against eight fouls by the Horned Frogs.
In yet another pivotal matchup with the national spotlight trained on Penn State’s redshirt senior striker, MacBean delivered once again for her 16th goal and sixth match-winning score of the 2024 season. A native of Excelsior, Minnesota, MacBean has amassed one of the most statistically significant seasons in recent memory for the Blue & White, becoming the highest-scoring student-athlete in a single season since Ally Schlegel turned in a 33-point showing in the 2019 campaign with 13 goals and seven assists. MacBean has paired her 16 goals with a single helper in 2024, amounting to 33 points overall. MacBean has now also booked at least one goal in every Penn State NCAA Tournament match since notching a tally against Santa Clara in the second round of last year’s event in Happy Valley, amounting to five straight national postseason matches with at least one goal.
Elsewhere in the final box score, senior midfielder Jordan Fusco added her name with yet another assist on a MacBean match-winner, marking the veteran attacking midfielder’s 12th assist of 2024. Fusco, a native of Olmsted Township, Ohio, has recorded the most assists in a single season by a Nittany Lion since current NWSL starter and U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Sam Coffey booked 12 in the Blue & White during the COVID-adjusted 2020-21 spring campaign. Fusco joined freshman midfielder Katie Scott as the only two Penn Staters with at least one shot attempt in Friday afternoon’s second round matchup against the Horned Frogs.
In goal for the Nittany Lions, redshirt sophomore keeper Mackenzie Gress booked her fourth collegiate shutout and first clean sheet since mustering a gritty nine-save shutout of the Minnesota Golden Gophers on the road in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament earlier this month. Gress, a native of Lyndhurst, New Jersey, swatted away all four Horned Frog shots on goal in Friday night’s win, her largest save tally since the aforementioned win over Minnesota. For the Horned Frogs, everyday starter Megan Plaschko played all 90 minutes and allowed a single score en route to the losing decision to close out her 2024 season.
The opening seven minutes passed without incident or shot attempts for either team, as the Nittany Lions and Horned Frogs both battled for possession to get a feel for one another early in the match. The Horned Frogs were able to tally the opening shot attempts, but the Blue & White snapped back with consecutive efforts from Fusco and Scott careening off of TCU defenders. The Horned Frogs were overtly physical early in the affair, rattling off the first four fouls of the match as both teams continued to play scoreless soccer through 25 minutes. Gress was called on to provide back-to-back saves midway through the half as the field tilted in TCU’s direction, with PSU’s keeper able to keep the sheet clean with all four of her saves before the half closed out scoreless.
Penn State immediately looked revitalized coming out of the brief halftime intermission, appearing to score the first goal of the match a mere 30 seconds into play. The Nittany Lions utilized crisp passing in the final third off the kickoff to find MacBean for an apparent goal, but the tally was called back after VAR determined that the Nittany Lion striker was offsides. Penn State wasted little time getting that score back up on the board, as less than two minutes passed before MacBean found the back of the net for real in the 47th. A brilliant header from redshirt junior midfielder Julia Raich sparked the Penn State scoring chance, as the ball sailed 20 yards forward into the attacking half of the pitch toward Fusco. Penn State’s passing savant eluded a pair of defenders and fed the ball through to her right for MacBean, who side-stepped the goalkeeper to her left and used a right-footed sliding shot to find the back of the net.
Leading by a 1-0 margin, the Nittany Lions locked in on the defensive end of the pitch and looked to make MacBean’s goal enough to propel the team to the third round of the national postseason. The back line, anchored by senior Mieke Schiemann, graduate Ginger Fontenot and redshirt sophomore Kayleigh Herr, each helped corral a volatile TCU attack that was responsible for 2.45 goals per match, the 10th highest-scoring offense in Division I. The Horned Frogs were able to generate a breakaway opportunity with just under 33 minutes to play, but an electrifying sprint and herculean block from Fontenot after covering around 40 yards kept TCU off the scoreboard. Penn State’s elite defensive unit refused to surrender an on-target scoring chance for the Horned Frogs the rest of the way, closing out the shutout while propelling Penn State to its eighth-straight Sweet 16.
SCORING SUMMARY
47’ – A brilliant header from Raich sparked the Penn State scoring chance, as the ball sailed 20 yards forward into the attacking half of the pitch toward Fusco. Penn State’s midfielder eluded a pair of defenders and fed the ball through to her right for MacBean, who side-stepped the goalkeeper to her left and used a right-footed sliding shot to find the back of the net. PSU 1, TCU 0
UP NEXT
Fourth-seeded and 22nd-ranked Penn State women’s soccer continues its trip through the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championships on Sunday, November 24, as the Nittany Lions square off against either top-seeded and sixth-ranked Florida State or eighth-seeded Vanderbilt in the third round. Penn State will challenge its third-round opponent at 5:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday evening, with the match set to stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via ESPN+ and the ESPN app on connected devices.
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.