Soccer: Women's

On a stormy night No. 11 Penn State women’s soccer was able to brave the elements for a victory.
The Nittany Lions (7-2-0) defeated the Northwestern Wildcats (4-3-2) 4-1 for their second Big Ten win in as many games.
Senior Christine Nairn and junior Maya Hayes led the offense with two goals apiece.
“I thought that they solved a lot more issues in the second half then they did in they first,” coach Erica Walsh said. “I thought they were quite good they came right out after halftime, overall we it was a solid performance. We were too slow and deliberate in the first half but I enjoyed watching us solve it in the second half.”
Even with a slow start the Lions were able to set the tone in the first half. Redshirt junior Tani Costa assisted to Nairn for her team-leading eighth goal of the season in the 31st minute. From 10 yards out she delivered the goal into the top left corner of the goal.
As it has done throughout the season, the Lion’s offense carried the team with eight shots on goal on 17 shots compared to Northwestern’s six shots on goal on 11 shots.
The Lions piled it on in the second half, with Nairn scoring her second goal in the opening minute of the half, from Hayes.
Hayes followed suit with her second goal of the season from Costa’s second assist of the match in the 57th minute. Hayes has two goals in as many games after returning from Japan while playing for the U-20 World Cup team.
Northwestern began to challenge in the 58th minute of the half with a goal headed in by junior Kate Allen off of an assist by freshman Jennifer Korn.
The Lions bounced back quickly with another goal in the 65th minute of the match when Hayes penetrated past her defender off of an assist by senior Maddy Evans.
The Lions fourth goal killed the momentum for the Wildcats and the match ended in a Penn State victory.
“They came out of halftime with their foot on the gas and really determined,” Walsh said. “It made all the difference in the world they imposed themselves on Northwestern in the second half where in the first half we let the game come to us.”
The Lion’s win over Northwestern was their second Big Ten victory in as many matches. They opened their conference schedule with a 2-1 victory last week against Wisconsin. They play their second match of the weekend Sunday at Illinois at 2 p.m.
“Obviously Vanessa DiBernardo is a big focus for us and she is capable of winning big games for them,” Walsh said. “They’re always well coached and well organized so I think we’ve got ourselves a good soccer game on Sunday. We’re going to face a strong opponent both athletically and from a soccer perspective.”