No. 3 Penn State Women’s Soccer Bounces Back Against West Chester

No. 3 Penn State women’s soccer (2-0-1) controlled West Chester (0-0-1) 5-0 at Jeffery Field on Sunday.

It was clear from the jump that West Chester did not want a repeat of last season’s 8-0 thrashing. The Golden Rams were sometimes playing with a back five and utilizing a double pivot. Despite this Penn State came out strong once again and jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first half.

The second half started quickly with Aubrey Kulpa scoring in the first minute. This was not a preview of what was to come, though, as the rest of the half slowed down and the next goal did not come until Penn State received a penalty in the 89th minute.

How It Happened

Penn State made two changes to its starting 11 from Thursday with Aubrey Kulpa getting her first start for the Nittany Lions and Kaelyn Wolfe filling in for Mieke Schiemann. The formation remained unchanged.

As expected, Penn State dominated possession right from the kickoff. The Nittany Lions found plenty of space in the midfield due to the West Chester five-back and double pivot. Yet, the physicality of the Golden Rams gave Penn State’s forwards trouble in the opening minutes.

The first chance of the match came in the fifth minute when Olivia Damico nutmegged her defender on the edge of the box and found an unmarked Kaitlyn MacBean near the penalty spot. MacBean tried a first-time finish and barely put it wide.

Ten minutes later, Jordan Fusco played a perfectly weighted ball to MacBean who would not miss another opportunity. This time the forward slotted it past the West Chester keeper to score her third goal in three matches.

With 29 minutes to play in the first half, Fusco made a similar pass to Amelia White but this time the Golden Rams keeper was quick off her line and swallowed the ball before White could get a shot off.

The following 10 minutes, the game slowed down. Neither team could get the ball out of the midfield and into the box. For Penn State, the number of West Chester players committed to defending the box proved difficult.

This changed, though, in the 26th minute when MacBean made a nice move past her defender and drew a penalty. Rowan Lapi stepped up for the Nittany Lions and calmly passed the ball down the center to take a 2-0 lead.

Feeling more comfortable up two, head coach Erica Dambach brought on five fresh players. Penn State’s depth shined for the remainder of the first half but did not get anything to show for it until the 44th when Kulpa scored her second of the season.

The Nittany Lions went into halftime leading 3-0. West Chester was still without a shot.

It did not take long for Penn State to settle into the second half as Kulpa scored her second of the match 27 seconds into the half. Leading by four, the Nittany Lions did not slow down and continued their dominance in the opening minutes of the second half.

Despite seeing more of the ball, Penn State did not find another goal in the opening 20 minutes of the half. West Chester was still without a shot thanks to the Nittany Lions’ back three rarely letting the ball over the halfway line.

This trend continued throughout the whole half as both teams became tired. The ball spent a lot of time in the Penn State attacking third, but the Nittany Lions could not find its fifth goal until in the dying minutes Penn State was awarded another penalty. This time Elle Kershner stepped up and slotted it on the right side of the net.

The Nittany Lions got a confidence-boosting 5-0 win.

Takeaways

• In a game filled with great individual performances, two players stood out. One was freshman forward Kulpa who scored twice in her first career start. The other was Ginger Fontenot who controlled the game from the back using her constant communication to help out the offense.
• Penn State is not afraid to grip it and rip it from anywhere on the field. The Nittany Lions recorded 42 shots with 16 going on goal. This is the polar opposite of West Chester, which was held to no shots in the entire match.
• Schiemann appeared to be in a boot and was sidelined for the match. The senior is a huge part of the Nittany Lion back three and will be missed until her return. Hopefully, she will be back on the field soon.

What’s Next?

Penn State will complete its run of home games on Thursday, August 29, at 7:30 p.m.