Morett and the Penn State players passionately pleaded their case to the officials arguing that the ball was shot from outside the circle and that it had not been deflected from inside.
Once the umpire explained that the shot was deflected by Beans, an entirely new argument arose, one that was voiced mostly (and certainly quite loudly) by the Penn State faithful in the crowd of more than 600 fans. They argued that if Beans did deflect the shot, her stick was raised too high to legally touch the ball.
The umpire making the call ignored the pleas for consultation with the other umpire, and stuck to her original call. Morett said after the game that it was a judgement call on the umpire's part, and the call just didn't go Penn State's way.
The vast majority of the game was played in Penn State's half of the field, as the aggressive Tar Heels mustered 20 shots on goal, compared to the four shots on goal from the Lions.
"You could see from the way they control the ball that they have experience," Morett said. "We didn't really have experience out there, but I felt that we really could have given more of an intense effort."
Junior goalkeeper Megan Akstin, who recorded the shutout against James Madison two days earlier, was very impressive -- and very busy -- during yesterday's game. She made 10 saves against a seemingly unrelenting Tar Heel attack, and was helped out by four defensive saves as well as the stellar defensive play of freshman back Mallory Weisen.
North Carolina's Kelsey Keeran scored the game's first goal with just over 11 minutes to play in the first half. That goal was answered 7 minutes later by Penn State's Kiersten Wood, who knocked in a rebound from Michele Rigby's shot off the post. The final 6 minutes of the first half seemed to be the only time of the game that the Lions were consistently on the offensive.
The Nittany Lions had trouble with their transitions from defense to offense. They controlled the ball on the defensive end, but then were unable to send the ball up to the midfielders and forwards without North Carolina intercepting the pass.
Morett and senior midfielder and co-captain Amanda Eckert recognized the problems in the transition game. Morett plans on correcting these flaws through video study and practice.
The more educational video will probably be that of the North Carolina game because Penn State played well at James Madison. Annelise Legel and Shaun Banta each scored their first goals of the season in Friday's contest, and the defense clamped down on the Dukes -- requiring Akstin to make only three saves en route to her first shutout and victory of the season.
The common theme throughout Penn State's first five games is a lack of experience. With a young team it is important to learn from mistakes, thereby allowing the players to mature quickly. Amanda Eckert says that the talent is not the issue, but rather it's a matter of accumulating the experience necessary for the Lions to seal the deal against their quality opponents.
"We got experience from today," Eckert said.
The Lions recognize that they must learn on the job, but after five games, this team has to hope that experience comes before it is too late.
