Penn State Women’s Soccer Capture Seventeenth Big Ten Title
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Penn State Women’s Soccer Capture Seventeenth Big Ten Title

Penn State Women’s Soccer captured their 17th Big Ten Regular Season title in 18 years on Wednesday after defeating the University of Michigan 3-1 at Jeffrey Field.

Senior Raquel Rodriguez opened the scoring for the Lions in the 33rd minute after assists from Nickolette Driesse and Mallory Weber. In less than two minutes, Penn State added two more goals to the scoreline from Megan Schafer and Nickolette Driesse.

Penn State continued to dominate the rest of the half and outshot Michigan 7-6 while they maintained a 3-0 score line going into the half. In the 88th minute, Michigan got on the scoreboard after Wolverine Cassie Collins grabbed a loose ball in the box and put the ball past Penn State goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom to end the game 3-1.

Following the game, Head Coach Erica Walsh had nothing but praise for her team. “I just want to start out by saying it's our last game of the regular season, and I just talked to the team about saving our best for last”. She continued, "It's exciting to see a 90-minute performance. Up to this point we've put together a couple of good forty-five or seventy-minute performances, but tonight it was a good 90-minute performance. We have a lot to be proud of and it was a good way to finish up the regular season.

Penn State finished the regular season with a 13-3-2 record overall and a 8-2-1 record in the Big Ten. The Lions finished the regular season at the top of the table with the Wisconsin Badgers, each earning 25 points. Since Penn State beat the Badgers earlier in the season, they win the tiebreaker and own the #1 seed going into the tournament.

Penn State’s quest for the Big Ten Tournament Championship begins this Sunday, November 1st at home in Jeffrey Field against Illinois. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the game will air live on the Big Ten Network.