Women’s Soccer Tops Bryn Athyn 5-2 in Home Opener
ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State Altoona women's soccer played its first home game of the season on Saturday afternoon, when the Lady Lions defeated Bryn Athyn College 5-2 at Spring Run Stadium.
Penn State Altoona (1-2-1) nabbed its first victory of the year with a big effort offensively. The Lady Lions outshot Bryn Athyn (1-2) 22-10 overall, including an 18-7 lead in shots on goal. Penn State Altoona also posted a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Sadie McConnell (New Enterprise, PA/Northern Bedford) finished with one goal and two assists for Penn State Altoona, and Sam Jones (Clifford Township, PA/Mountain View) had a goal and an assist. KK Wolfe (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville), Sarah Huston (Coatesvile, PA/Coatesville), and Paige Morse (Washington, D.C./Woodrow Wilson) also scored goals for the Lady Lions.
Kaitlyn Harmon (Sunbury, PA/Shikellamy) picked up her first collegiate win in goal for Penn State Altoona, playing a scoreless first half and making four saves. Diana Miller (Haymarket, VA/Battlefield) made one save while playing the second half.
Penn State Altoona got out to an early lead, scoring the game's first goal at 6:32. McConnell found Wolfe with a pass in the middle of the box, and Wolfe sent a shot into the bottom left corner of the net to make it 1-0.
The Lady Lions increased their lead to 2-0 at 16:43, when Huston dribbled through the Bryn Athyn defense and scored on a shot from 18 yards.
Penn State Altoona made it 3-0 before halftime. Olivia Venturino (Woodbridge, VA/Woodbridge) passed the ball to Morse in the box, whose shot from 12 yards out found the back of the net at 40:03.
For Wolfe, Huston, and Morse, their goals were the first of their collegiate careers. Venturino's assist was the first point of her collegiate career.
Penn State Altoona tacked on another goal 21 minutes into the second half, when Jones dribbled the ball along the end line and centered a pass in front of the net, finding McConnell, who headed a shot past the goalie for her first goal of the season.
Bryn Athyn took advantage of free kick opportunities to score a pair of quick goals that cut Penn State Altoona's lead in half. At 79:37, Payton Gormley's shot on a free kick from just outside the top left corner of the box found the top right corner of the net to make it 4-1. Shortly thereafter, Gormley scored again, when her free kick shot from 25 yards went top shelf at 80:22.
But Penn State Altoona got one of those goals back at 83:47, when McConnell passed the ball forward to Jones, whose shot from 12 yards from the right side of the box beat the keeper to make it 5-2.
McConnell and Jones paced the Lady Lions in shots with five each, including four shots on goal apiece. Jenna Mickel (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) had three shots on goal, and Huston added two shots on goal.
Penn State Altoona women's soccer returns to action this Friday, September 13, when the Lady Lions will travel to play Lycoming College in a 4:00 p.m. game.
