St. 亚洲无码 University was at the top of its game last season when the women鈥檚 soccer team took Penn State to overtime before losing 4-3 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
The Billikens met the Nittany Lions for a rematch Sunday, and while they applied considerable offensive pressure, the results were that of a team still finding its way through the early season.
No. 12 Penn State scored twice in the first 15 minutes and then held on to beat No. 19 SLU 2-1 at Hermann Stadium. The Billikens didn鈥檛 score in the run of play, relying on a penalty kick for their goal and missing another that would have given them a draw.
鈥淲e actually kind of found ourselves today,鈥 SLU coach Katie Shields said. 鈥淚 hate the result and never want a silver lining of a loss, but I do think we started to keep the ball better. It was a different feeling.
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鈥淎gainst BYU, we were hanging on at times. We were all over (Penn State), and I do think we鈥檙e growing. The young ones are starting to figure it out. The rotation and midfield are coming together. We鈥檝e made a lot of progress, but we don鈥檛 have time for progress. We have to win.鈥
SLU (2-0-2) outshot Penn State (4-1-0) 16-15 and controlled play much of the second half. Elise Le scored on a penalty kick in the opening minutes of the second half, and Emily Gaebe pushed a PK wide in the 79th minute.
Shields felt there was another PK that could have been called, adding to the frustration of a performance that was dangerous but without results.
Meanwhile, Penn State got two goals from the prolific Kaitlyn MacBean, who has eight in five games and was close on two other occasions.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the best we鈥檝e looked collectively,鈥 midfielder Hannah Larson said. 鈥淲e started to put things together. From the first game to now is exponentially better. We just have to put our shots on frame. We had so many opportunities. We know we should have walked away with a win, especially on our home field. This was an NCAA (Tournament) type of game.鈥
SLU attacked hard in the opening minutes without a goal before a turnover in the back third led to Penn State鈥檚 first score after less than three minutes.
MacBean slid another chance wide left by a small amount minutes later before getting a chance in the 13th minute that she did not miss.
It looked similar to the meeting between the teams at Penn State last year, when the Nittany Lions went ahead 2-0 only to see SLU rally for a 3-2 lead that didn鈥檛 hold. The Billikens were a potent scoring team at that point.
A year later, they are seeking their footing amid a rebuild of the midfield and an influx of freshmen who are playing big roles. Adding to the issues Sunday, forward Hannah Sawyer took a hard hit, was helped from the field and didn鈥檛 return for the second half.
鈥淭he first three minutes, we were fantastic. We were all over them,鈥 Shields said. 鈥淭hen there鈥檚 an uncharacteristic double mistake on the back line. Our center backs are some of the best in the country, and we can鈥檛 give good players opportunities like that. Then you have to dig yourselves out. We gave ourselves every opportunity to dig out.鈥
The penalty kicks came as a result of those opportunities. The Billikens generated nine corner kicks, but those situations have not been productive this season, with no goals produced.
After a hand ball led to the PK by Le, Shields selected Gaebe for the second one that resulted from Larson being pulled down in the box in front of the goal. Her shot, however, missed the mark.
鈥淚鈥檇 probably put Gaebe up there again, but she just didn鈥檛 hit it well,鈥 Shields said. 鈥淟yndsey (Heckel) hit one last game. We have to keep developing the depth of what the (PK) lineup looks like.鈥