Penn State women’s soccer (1-1-0) earned a 4-1 win over Northwestern (1-1-0) Thursday night in Evanston. It was a dominant performance for the Nittany Lions, as they took home their first win of the season while head coach Erica Dambach celebrated her 260th win.

The Nittany Lions played strongly and confidently. A Sam Coffey penalty kick gave Penn State its initial lead, but two more goals resulted in the lopsided scoreline for Dambach’s squad.

How It Happened

The match kicked off, and Frankie Tagliaferri sent Payton Linnehan a ball for a shot. The early look was saved by Northwestern’s Mackenzie Wood, however. Linnehan stood out throughout the game with lots of great plays and shot opportunities.

The first goal of the game came from Kristin Schnurr with an assist from Ally Schlegel in the 25th minute. The box was getting congested, so a quick tap of the ball away from the chaos allowed Schnurr to easily land the score.

Penn State played a fairly even game for the first half, as both teams maintained fairly even possession.

With just over five minutes left in the half, Northwestern’s Josie Aulicino had a beautiful rocket from far out that landed the Wildcats their first goal, tying up the match. She was assisted by the Wildcats’ Marianna Annest.

Northwestern received a foul in the 32nd minute while inside the box, resulting in a penalty kick for Penn State. Sam Coffey took the kick and scored in the back corner, giving the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead and Coffey her first goal of the season.

The Nittany Lions earned a free kick in the 57th minute, which was taken by Coffey. The ball was headed a few times towards the goal, and eventually resulted in a corner kick for Penn State.

Coffey took the corner kick, sending the ball towards the far post where Schlegel was waiting to score a firecracker of a header. That score put Penn State up 3-1 late.

Schlegel did it again with 12 minutes to go, as she scored a rebound off of a far shot and put the score at 4-1. She was quick to the ball and showed, yet again, how in sync and graceful the Nittany Lions are as a squad.

Player of the Match

Ally Schlegel | Redshirt Sophomore | Striker

Schlegel had a great game against the Wildcats. She assisted the first goal of the match by tapping the ball just outside of the box to Linnehan. In the second half, the sophomore really shined. Schlegel scored a header off of a corner kick, her first goal of the season, and scored a rebound for the Nittany Lions’ third and fourth goals.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will play another away game against Illinois on Sunday, February 28 at noon.