Bucknell University
Penn State
Bucknell Women's Soccer Falls 4-2 at No. 10 Penn State
9/7/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 7, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Bucknell women's soccer team fought hard against 10th-ranked Penn State, but the host Nittany Lions broke open a tie game with two goals a minute apart in the second half and turned back the Bison 4-2 at Jeffrey Field on Sunday evening.
Christ Matlack (South Williamsport, Pa./South Williamsport Area) and Jennifer Dervarics (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) scored for the Bison, who finished a difficult five-game season-opening road trip with a 2-2-1 record. The Nittany Lions, who got a goal and two assists from Katie Schoepfer, improved to 4-1 on the year.
Penn State needed only 1:34 to get on the board, when Schroepfer played a ball through the Bison defense to Danielle Toney, who held off a defender and slipped a shot around Kathryn Sutton for a 1-0 lead.
Bucknell's defense stiffened, keeping a one-goal deficit for the remainder of the half. Sutton made three first-half saves, including a tough one on Zoe Bouchelle midway through.
The Bison evened the match just 56 seconds into the second period, when Matlack scored her first goal of the season, chipping a breakaway over the head of Penn State keeper Alyssa Naeher. Matlack, who was making her first start of the campaign after being slowed by an injury in the preseason, was a difference-maker all night. She took four shots and created numerous scoring chances.
At the 58:14 mark, Schoepfer put Penn State back in front when she took a pass from Nikki Watts and fired past Sutton's outstretched left hand.
Perhaps the turning point of the game came just after the Nittany Lions regained the lead. The Bison played a ball into the box, and a Penn State defender got away with a hand ball trying to clear. The Lions sent the ball the length of the field, and on the same sequence Watts got in behind the defense for a breakaway goal, only 1:03 after the Schoepfer tally. Instead of possibly having a penalty kick to tie it at 2, Bucknell faced a 3-1 deficit.
The Bison had plenty left, however, and they pulled within 3-2 in the 67th minute, when freshman Sadie Canter (Dresden, Ohio/Tri-Valley) sent a long ball to Dervarics in open space, and the co-captain buried her team-leading fifth goal in as many games. The assist was the first point of Canter's career.
Bucknell pressured the Penn State zone, generating a number of good scoring chances over the next 20 minutes. Perhaps the best opportunity came on a corner kick with 4:30 remaining. Dervarics' header hit the near post, then Canter tried to back-heel one in from close range, but Naehring was there for the save.
Penn State iced it on a counter-attack with only 2:15 left in regulation. The Lions intercepted a pass as Bucknell tried to come out of its own zone. Toney then fed Bouchelle for the goal from close range.
Penn State outshot Bucknell 19-12, including 10-7 after halftime, while corner kicks were 5-3 in the Lions' favor. Sutton finished with six saves for the Bison, while Naeher had to make seven for Penn State.
Bucknell will open up its home slate on Thursday against Mount St. Mary's at 7 p.m.
