Oct. 10, 2004
NU-Penn State Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Northwestern sophomore goalkeeper Whitney Jones had a heck of a weekend for the Wildcat women's soccer team.
Unfortunately for her and her teammates Sunday, they were unable to equal arguably the Big Ten's best candidate for Player of the Year and a defense that grows more impenetrable by the match.
In the 55th minute of Sunday's match at Penn State, a misplayed ball landed at the feet of Nittany Lion forward Tiffany Weimer. She set the ball and, with Jones scrambling back into position, lofted a chip shot that went over Jones, under the crossbar and into the back of the goal. It was Weimer's 15th goal of the season.
That was all the Nittany Lion defense would need, as the seven-time defending Big Ten regular-season champions emerged with the 1-0 victory. Penn State improved to 11-1-1 (7-0-0 Big Ten), while NU fell to 7-6-1 (3-4-0 Big Ten).
"That was an unbelievable finish," said NU head coach Jenny Haigh. "It was unfortunate, because Whitney had an amazing weekend and really did a great job of keeping us in both matches."
What was also unfortunate was NU's bad sense of timing; the 'Cats picked the wrong day to get shut out for the first time this season. Not that it was a surprise, of course; Penn State has earned its No. 3 national ranking now by shutting out nine of its last 10 opponents, including six of seven Big Ten foes (only Purdue has scored on them in that time).
"We had a few great chances in this game," said Haigh. "I thought it was a good game, a competitive game, pretty evenly played. I was happy with our effort today."
Penn State outshot NU 10-4 and had nine corner kicks to the Wildcats' one. Jones finished with five saves, while Erin McLeod had three stops and was aided by a team save.
Northwestern is home for its final three Big Ten matches, beginning next weekend when Indiana (Friday) and Purdue (Sunday) come to Evanston. Illinois closed out the conference campaign on Friday, Oct. 22.
MATCH SUMMARY
Score by Half
Northwestern (7-6-1, 3-4-0) 0 0 - 0
#3 Penn State (11-1-1, 7-0-0) 0 1 - 1
Goal Summary
PSU - TIffany Weimer (unassisted), 54:09
Shots: Penn State 10, NU 4
Corner Kicks: Penn State 9, NU 1
Fouls: NU 14, Penn State 10
GK Saves: NU - Whitney Jones 5; PSU - Erin McLeod 3, team 1