The aggressive, take-control Penn State women's soccer team from earlier this season showed Northwestern exactly why its ranked No. 7 in the nation as it shutout the Wildcats 3-0 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament yesterday in Lafayette, Ind.
The win was the team's seventh shutout of the season, and has earned them the right to play Ohio State today in semifinal-round action. Ohio State beat Purdue yesterday in overtime, 2-1, to advance.
"It wasn't our best game," Penn State women's soccer coach Paula Wilkins said. "But a victory is a victory right now in this tournament."
Penn State got on the board first yesterday after the ball deflected off of a Northwestern defender and got past goalkeeper Susan McCreery only 3:15 into the game. Penn State scored again with only 6:47 remaining in the half when sophomore Heidi Drummond took advantage of a Bonnie Young corner kick and headed the ball over the goalkeeper.
Coming into the second half, the Lions kept up the pressure, adding eight shots and a goal by Stephanie Pezzullo off an assist from junior Christie Welsh at 78:12.
Penn State goalkeeper Emily Oleksiuk had six saves, while McCreery had five.
Northwestern ends its season with an 8-10-1 record.
Although Penn State slid easily past Northwestern, it will have to change its strategy going into its game tomorrow with Ohio State.
"Ohio State is going to be as fired up as we are," Wilkins said. "The pace will be faster and a lot more physical."
The matchup between the Lions and the Buckeyes brings with it a sense of revenge. It was only two weeks ago, to the day, that the Buckeyes upset Penn State 2-1 during regular season play, ending the team's 29-game unbeaten conference streak.
Before yesterday's game, Wilkins said her team was concentrating solely on its game against Northwestern.
"Redemption would be nice, but Northwestern is our first concern," Wilkins said.
And now Penn State will get its chance to do just that.
"Penn State is an excellent team," Buckeyes coach Lori Walker said. "They're a difficult team to scout. Every player has to step up and do their job. We can't have any weak links."
But the Lions will have to deal with what Walker says may be the strongest team that Ohio State has had in its history. And they are as hungry for a Big Ten championship as Penn State.
"The winner of the Big Ten Tournament is an automatic qualifier in the NCAA Tournament," Walker said. "That gives teams the motivation to play at a higher quality than they have throughout the season."
While Ohio State will try to repeat what it did two weeks ago, Penn State will do everything in its power to show the Buckeyes why they came into the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 1 seed.
The game is set for a 1 p.m. start on Purdue's East Field.
