Another sensational season for the Penn State women’s soccer team ended on a bitter note tonight against Notre Dame in the Elite Eight. With a spot in the College Cup up for grabs, the No. 2-seeded Nittany Lions were soundly defeated by the No. 1-seeded Fighting Irish, 4-0, at Alumni Field in South Bend.

The loss was the worst for Penn State since a 4-0 setback against Michigan on Oct. 4, 2002.

Notre Dame (24-0-1) dominated play from the opening whistle and held a 13-3 shot advantage in the first half. But Penn State (18-5-3) weathered the storm and kept the score tied at halftime.

Then, in the opening minutes of the second half, Notre Dame showed why it is the top team in the country.

At the 53:05 mark, the Irish took a 1-0 lead on a shot from freshman forward Michele Weissenhofer. But she wasn’t done there.

Just two minutes and 31 seconds later, Weissenhofer beat Penn State redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Kate Milstead again. She completed the hat trick with her third goal coming 10 minutes later. Junior forward Amanda Cinalli tallied Notre Dame’s final goal in the 72nd minute.

The Lions could only muster three shots and one corner kick for the entire game against Notre Dame’s stifling defense. Meanwhile, the Irish amassed 25 shots and nine corner kicks against Penn State’s heralded back line.

Check Monday’s Daily Collegian for the full story.