Penn State women’s soccer earns another shutout

The Penn State women’s soccer team posted its fifth shutout in the last seven matches and improved its unbeaten streak to eight matches with a 2-0 victory over Illinois on Friday night at a rain-soaked Jeffrey Field.

Frannie Crouse and Marissa Sheva scored the goals for the No. 14 Nittany Lions (8-2-2, 4-0-1 Big Ten), who dominated possession with a 21-3 shot advantage.

Amanda Dennis did not need to make a save to post the shutout. The team has surrendered just two goals in the last seven games and nine goals all season, and didn’t allow an Illini shot in the second half.

“Obviously I’m excited about the result tonight,” head coach Erica Dambach said. “It was a good shutout in tough conditions and I think it is really challenging to keep a good team like Illinois off the scoreboard in these types of conditions. But I give the backline and Amanda Dennis credit. I thought we struggled a little bit in the first half to put the pieces together, but we were much better in the second half.”

Haleigh Echard set up Crouse’s team-leading eighth goal of the season at 12:23 of the game, while Charlotte Williams worked with Sheva on a give-and-go for the sophomore’s first goal of the season at 65:11.

Penn State visits Indiana on Thursday.

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 10:48 PM with the headline "Penn State women’s soccer earns another shutout."