UNIVERSITY PARK — Two early goals from Christine Nairn and some stellar play by a few freshmen gave the Penn State women’s soccer team a lead it would never relenquish in a 5-0 victory over St. John’s on Sunday afternoon at Jeffrey Field.
The No. 9 Nittany Lions also got goals from Maddy Evans and Emily Hurd in the first half and freshman Raquel Rodriquez after intermission in the team’s home opener.
Erin McNulty and freshman Britt Eckerstrom combined for the shutout, The Nittany Lions outshot the Red Storm 16-4.
Evans, who assisted on Nairn’s second score, was taken down hard on a foul in the penalty box in the 20th minute. Evans then converted the penalty kick. Rodriguez assisted on Hurd’s goal later in the first half and freshman Teddy Chase sent a sevice to Rodriguez for a header to complete the scoring.
The game was delayed in the first half by lightning in the State College area.
The Red Storm bench received a red card by officials during the first half.
Penn State (2-0) stays home next weekend to host top-ranked and defending national champion Stanford on Friday night.
The Nittany Lions are playing without midfielder Taylor Schram and forward Maya Hayes, who are with the U.S. national team at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Japan. The U.S. faces Ghana ta 3 a.m. today in Hiroshima in its first match.
