Penn State women’s soccer had to wait a little longer than it wanted, but the wait was worth it.
After winning the Big Ten tournament as the sixth seed and earning an automatic bid, the team beat Quinnipiac, 4-1, at Jeffery Field to move on in the NCAA tournament.
The game was originally supposed to be played Friday, but got moved to Sunday, a week from the day Penn State (14-4-3) beat top-seeded Michigan State to win the Big Ten tournament. It also marked the 28th straight year Penn State has been in “The Big Dance.”
Penn State scored first 22:15 in when Kate Wiesner cashed in, with assists by Payton Linnehan and Penelope Hocking. That 1-0 lead held through the rest of the first half. Quinnipiac’s (15-3-1) Markela Bejleri tied it at 1 45:59 in with an assist by Courtney Chochol. But it was all Nittany Lions after that. Penn State retook the lead less than four minutes later on a Linnehan goal that featured Hocking getting her second assist. Penn State added insurance at 64:37 when Hocking joined the goal parade, with Jillian Jennings on the assists. Cori Dyke scored the final Penn State goal at 76:21. Rachel Wasserman got the assist.
Penn State will take on West Virginia in the second round Friday. Start time is scheduled for 4:30.
