No. 1 seed Nittany Lions outmatch Ohio State, advance to NCAA Tournament quarterfinals
A few days after an opening-round, five-goal dismantling of Albany, Penn State women’s soccer coach Erica Walsh was posed an interesting question: How do teams plan to stop the Nittany Lions?
Her answer, in short, was that she didn’t know. Her team has too much talent, too many scoring options.
Penn State followed up the Albany demolition with an even more impressive showing, throttling Boston University on Friday by six goals.
Surely things would slow down in the third round of the NCAA Tournament against conference foe Ohio State.
Nope.
Top-seeded Penn State (19-3-2) continued its recent run of dominance, outmatching Ohio State (13-7-3) in a 4-0 victory on Sunday afternoon at Jeffrey Field. Penn State will now host West Virginia at 4 p.m. on Saturday for the quarterfinals.
The Nittany Lions faced the Mountaineers earlier this season, losing 1-0 in Morgantown on Sept. 4. But a lot has changed since then.
“I think we’re a completely different team at this point,” Walsh said. “We have the same pieces, but it’s the way they’re playing.”
The way they’re playing has been easy on the eyes.
The Nittany Lions have won their last eight games, owning a 26-3 goals advantage, and they’ve been even more prolific in the NCAA Tournament.
The defense has held up when rarely challenged, seeing through three clean sheets in three games, and offensively, the Nittany Lions have been unstoppable. A total of 15 goals is the most of any team this tournament.
In fact, it’s the most goals a Penn State team has scored in the opening trio of NCAA games since 2005.
The number is eye-catching on its own merit, but it’s how Penn State has scored that has Walsh and Jeffrey Field patrons alike buzzing.
It’s been a cohesive, multi-faceted attack, as nine different Nittany Lions have tallied goals in the last three games. On those 15 goals, a total of 12 different players have been credited with assists.
Walsh said she can’t recall any three-game stretch in her nine-season tenure that the Nittany Lions have been so potent.
“We haven’t had the ability to bring so many players off the bench and have so many players impact us,” the coach said. “I think our depth is huge for us.”
It certainly was on Sunday.
For much of the first half, play was even, as the Buckeyes controlled as much of the ball as the hosts.
“I liked what we did in the first half,” Ohio State coach Lori Walker. “We had a couple dangerous opportunities.”
Problem is, not only did the Buckeyes fail to finish off those chances, but they also couldn’t prevent Penn State from converting one late.
Freshman defender Ellie Jean, who came on as a substitute, fed Megan Schafer in the box, and the senior did the rest, notching her team-leading 13th goal of the year in the 42nd minute.
Going into the break down 1-0 stung for the Buckeyes. What was worse was how they came back out. Less than a minute into the second half, Penn State’s Raquel Rodriguez scored on a header off a corner kick.
“Giving up a late goal and then an early goal,” Walker said. “I don’t know which one hurts more.”
Things snowballed from there, as it did with Albany and Boston when the Nittany Lions went up a couple goals. Not even five minutes after Rodriguez’s header, midfielder Emily Ogle nailed a 20-yard strike for her third goal of the tournament.
For good measure, Haleigh Echard grabbed a goal at the 74:26 mark, polishing off Penn State’s productive afternoon.
The three-goal second half secured Penn State a trip to the Elite Eight for the 11th time in program history and third such occasion since 2012.
And Walsh couldn’t be happier with her team’s form.
“We’re playing our best soccer of the season,” Walsh said. “It’s exactly where you want to be heading into an Elite Eight game.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 7:03 PM with the headline "No. 1 seed Nittany Lions outmatch Ohio State, advance to NCAA Tournament quarterfinals."