The first away game of the year was a fight to the very end for the blue and white team.
Penn State jumped out to an early lead and a tense second half, but came away with a 2-1 victory over Saint Louis University.
The game was a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, in which the Nittany Lions defeated the Billikens 4-3 in overtime.
Caitlin McBean, who comes into the game with a team-high six goals this season, was expected to be St. Louis’ biggest obstacle, and that was exactly the case.
McBean showed off his skills early in the game, scoring the opening goal.
With an assist from Amelia White, McBean was in a great position to seize the opportunity and fired a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the goal, beating the Billikens goalkeeper.
Ten minutes after the first goal, McBean scored his second goal on an assist from senior Jordan Fusco to make the score 2-0.
With eight minutes left in the first half, St. Louis’ Hannah Sawyer struggled to get up after colliding with Penn State’s Molly Martin. Sawyer was taken off the field with no visible injuries but was removed from the game.
With just under three minutes left in the first half, freshman forward Audrey Smith came close to scoring for the Billikens, but Penn State goalkeeper Amanda Poubeau made a diving save to keep the ball from going into the net.
St. Louis was unable to penetrate the Nittany Lions defense at the end of the first half, and the score remained 2-0 going into halftime.
Less than two minutes into the second half, St. Louis was awarded a penalty kick after Kaylee Herr was called for a handball in the penalty box. Elise Lee smashed the ball past Poorbo to cut the Nittany Lions’ lead in half.
The second injury came just five minutes into the half, when Penn State’s Rowan Lapi went down clutching his shin and had to be helped off the field. Riley Gleason was in as the starting midfielder.
The Billikens applied pressure and created dangerous scoring opportunities that the Nittany Lions defended, narrowly missing a goal, but St. Louis missed a chance to score a second goal when Emily Gabe missed a penalty kick to keep Penn State in the lead with 11 minutes left in the game.
With seven minutes left in the game, the Penn State sideline received a yellow card for insubordination. Despite the warning, the Nittany Lions overcame fatigue and prevented the Billikens from scoring, winning the game 2-1.
Next
The Nittany Lions continue their road game against Princeton at Mislik Field on Thursday at 7 p.m.
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