Penn State Sports Roundup - Four Fall Sports Underway

Women’s Soccer

Penn State earned a hard-fought tie with No. 2 North Carolina on August 17 before an 8-0 shellacking of West Chester on the 20th. Last weekend, the Nittany Lions defeated West Virginia 2-1 and No. 16 TCU 1-0.

Junior forward Kaitlyn MacBeam was the hero of last weekend’s Big 12 sweep, scoring the game-winning goal in the second half of both contests. Goalie Katherine Asman has paved the way for the defense, allowing just one goal in her first four starts.

Erica Dambach earned her 300th win as an NCAA soccer coach in the road win at WVU.

Upcoming Games: Thursday vs. UCF (7:30pm on B1G+), Sunday vs. Monmouth (1pm on B1G+)

Field Hockey

The Lisa Bervinchak-Love era is underway, following the retirement of longtime coach Char Morett-Curtiss in February. Penn State lost a hard-fought 2-1 game at No. 6 Virginia on Friday evening. The Lions led 1-0 at halftime but the Cavaliers took control of the game in the third quarter and shut down several quality scoring chances in the final frame.

PSU rebounded with a 3-2 comeback win over American on Sunday. After trailing 2-0 in the third quarter, the Lions rallied in the final 18 minutes. Mackenzie Allessie scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in the fourth quarter.

Upcoming Games: Friday at Cal (7pm), Sunday at Stanford (3pm)

Men’s Soccer

The men’s soccer team kicked off their season with a 1-1 tie at in-state rival No. 5b Pittsburgh. Van Danielson scored for Penn State shortly before halftime, on what turned out to be PSU’s only shot on goal in the game. Pitt tied the game in the 79th minute.

Penn State earned its first win on Sunday, defeating Le Moyne 4-0. Four different players scored for the Nittany Lions (Van Danielson, Peter Mangione, Caden Grabfelder, and Atem Kato) in a dominating effort.

Upcoming Games: Friday vs. No. 1 Syracuse (6pm on B1G Network), Monday vs. St. John’s (5pm)

Women’s Volleyball

The Nittany Lions struggled at the Road 2 Tampa Invitational, losing both matches to No. 11 Florida and No. 20 Georgia Tech. Penn State was unable to generate a consistent offensive attack in either contest. Incoming transfer Jess Mruzik led PSU with 31 kills across the two matches. Despite the offensive struggles, the team’s blocking was impressive, with Allie Holland (2.25 blocks/set) and Taylor Trammel (1.50) leading the way.

Upcoming Games: Friday vs. No. 22 Western Kentucky (7pm on B1G+), Saturday vs. Colgate (2pm on B1G+), Sunday vs. James Madison (2pm on B1G+)

Rankings

Women’s Soccer: No. 6 (Last: No. 8)

Field Hockey: No. 5

Women’s Volleyball: No. 14 (Last: No. 8)

Men’s Soccer: T-No. 20 (Last: NR)