Women’s Soccer Earn Sixth Big Ten Tournament Title
Penn State women’s soccer defeated Rutgers 2-0 Sunday at Jeffrey Field to earn their sixth Big Ten Tournament Title. The Lions were led offensively by Emily Ogle and Elizabeth Ball, each adding a goal for the Lions while the defense had a sound game led by senior goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom who earned the shutout.
Head coach Erica Walsh praised the team for their complete performance during the match: “I want to start out by saying congrats to Rutgers...I thought it was a fantastic final. I thought the quality of play was as good as I’ve seen in any Big Ten match this year. I’m obviously really proud of the way the team came out. From start to finish we battled, we kept our composure. I thought we played Penn State soccer on both sides of the ball. The energy was there, the leadership was there and it was a really good performance from our team today.”
The Nittany Lions opened the scoring in the 9th minute after a corner kick from Nickolette Driesse. Driesse placed the ball directly into the penalty box towards Raquel Rodriguez who went for the shot. As the ball was headed towards the keeper, sophomore Elizabeth Ball scooped the ball up and sent it past the Rutgers goalkeeper for the first goal of the game.
Fifteen minutes later, the Lions added another goal, this time by Emily Ogle. Ogle got the ball after a rebounded shot from teammate Frannie Crouse and sent it flying past the goalkeeper to solidify Penn State’s lead.
The Lions headed into the half up 2-0 and never looked back. The second half was scoreless from both sides and Penn State went on to capture the Big Ten Title. Frannie Crouse, Britt Eckerstrom, and Emily Ogle were also named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team.
Up next for the Nittany Lions is the Division I women’s soccer championship tournament. Penn State earned a No. 1 seed in the tournament and will take on the University of Albany at home on Friday, November 13th at 6:30 p.m.
Head coach Erica Walsh praised the team for their complete performance during the match: “I want to start out by saying congrats to Rutgers...I thought it was a fantastic final. I thought the quality of play was as good as I’ve seen in any Big Ten match this year. I’m obviously really proud of the way the team came out. From start to finish we battled, we kept our composure. I thought we played Penn State soccer on both sides of the ball. The energy was there, the leadership was there and it was a really good performance from our team today.”
The Nittany Lions opened the scoring in the 9th minute after a corner kick from Nickolette Driesse. Driesse placed the ball directly into the penalty box towards Raquel Rodriguez who went for the shot. As the ball was headed towards the keeper, sophomore Elizabeth Ball scooped the ball up and sent it past the Rutgers goalkeeper for the first goal of the game.
Fifteen minutes later, the Lions added another goal, this time by Emily Ogle. Ogle got the ball after a rebounded shot from teammate Frannie Crouse and sent it flying past the goalkeeper to solidify Penn State’s lead.
The Lions headed into the half up 2-0 and never looked back. The second half was scoreless from both sides and Penn State went on to capture the Big Ten Title. Frannie Crouse, Britt Eckerstrom, and Emily Ogle were also named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team.
Up next for the Nittany Lions is the Division I women’s soccer championship tournament. Penn State earned a No. 1 seed in the tournament and will take on the University of Albany at home on Friday, November 13th at 6:30 p.m.
