University of Minnesota Athletics
Golden Gopher Soccer Team Hangs with No. 11 Penn State
10/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
The University of Minnesota soccer team turned in a tremendous overall team performance but eventually fell to No. 11 Penn State, 1-0, on Friday night in University Park, Pa. The Golden Gophers (7-7-1, 1-6-0) held the high-powered Nittany Lion offense to just six shots on goal, but Allie Long scored on a scramble in front of the net in the 53rd minute to give PSU (9-3-3, 5-1-1) the victory.
Minnesota’s back line of Hailey McCarthy, Lyndsey Mueller, Kaitlin Wagner and Kirsten Zachman played extremely well all night in limiting Aubrey Aden-Buie and Katie Schoepfer, two of the top three scorers in the Big Ten, to just three shots on goal and zero points. Lindsey Dare made five saves in the loss and moved to 5-2-1 on the season. Dare has allowed one goal or fewer in all but one of her eight starts this year.
Penn State came out in an attempt to establish its attack early on and put heavy pressure on the Gophers through the first 10 minutes of the match. Minnesota escaped the initial rush unscathed and settled down from there to hold its own against the Nittany Lions.
Elena Fruci had Minnesota’s best chance to score around the 37th minute, getting behind the PSU defense on a breakaway. Nittany Lion goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher made the save, however, to keep the Gophers off the board.
The Gophers pushed forward in the second half and generated some opportunities on the attack but were unable to find the back of the net.
Long gave Penn State the lead with her goal in the 53rd minute. The Nittany Lions were awarded a free kick just inside Minnesota’s half of the field. The ball was served into the box from 45 yards out where it was knocked around a bit before Heather Tomko was able to deflect the ball to Long. Long finished from 10 yards out to the right corner of the net to give Penn State the 1-0 lead.
Due to an outstanding overall team performance on defense, Dare did not have to make a lot of saves, but she came up big on a couple of occasions to keep Minnesota in the game. The Gophers were unable to find the equalizer, however, and fell to the Nittany Lions by a narrow one-goal margin for the second year in a row.
The Golden Gophers travel to South Dakota State on Sunday to meet the Jackrabbits in their final non-conference match of the season. The game is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m.
Minnesota’s back line of Hailey McCarthy, Lyndsey Mueller, Kaitlin Wagner and Kirsten Zachman played extremely well all night in limiting Aubrey Aden-Buie and Katie Schoepfer, two of the top three scorers in the Big Ten, to just three shots on goal and zero points. Lindsey Dare made five saves in the loss and moved to 5-2-1 on the season. Dare has allowed one goal or fewer in all but one of her eight starts this year.
Penn State came out in an attempt to establish its attack early on and put heavy pressure on the Gophers through the first 10 minutes of the match. Minnesota escaped the initial rush unscathed and settled down from there to hold its own against the Nittany Lions.
Elena Fruci had Minnesota’s best chance to score around the 37th minute, getting behind the PSU defense on a breakaway. Nittany Lion goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher made the save, however, to keep the Gophers off the board.
The Gophers pushed forward in the second half and generated some opportunities on the attack but were unable to find the back of the net.
Long gave Penn State the lead with her goal in the 53rd minute. The Nittany Lions were awarded a free kick just inside Minnesota’s half of the field. The ball was served into the box from 45 yards out where it was knocked around a bit before Heather Tomko was able to deflect the ball to Long. Long finished from 10 yards out to the right corner of the net to give Penn State the 1-0 lead.
Due to an outstanding overall team performance on defense, Dare did not have to make a lot of saves, but she came up big on a couple of occasions to keep Minnesota in the game. The Gophers were unable to find the equalizer, however, and fell to the Nittany Lions by a narrow one-goal margin for the second year in a row.
The Golden Gophers travel to South Dakota State on Sunday to meet the Jackrabbits in their final non-conference match of the season. The game is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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