No. 4 Rutgers women's soccer travels to face rival No. 8 Penn State
After opening in-conference play with a 2-0 win against Ohio State, Rutgers women’s soccer will travel across state lines on Thursday to take on Penn State. The No. 4 Scarlet Knights (9-0-0, 1-0-0) enter Thursday’s matchup with 29 goals for and 5 goals against.
Rutgers, who is coming off a home win against the No. 21 Buckeyes (5-0-2, 2-0-0) saw some familiar faces spearhead the victory this past Sunday. Junior forward Allison Lowrey scored the go-ahead goal 5:14 into the matchup. The Bridgewater, New Jersey, native tallied her 6th goal of the season off a feed from junior midfielder Sara Brocious.
Brocious is second on the team in assists with five, one shy of the team lead, which belongs to sophomore forward Riley Tiernan.
Not only did Brocious tally an assist but she also scored the Knights’ 2nd goal against Ohio State at 54:16 off a feed from sophomore midfielder Kylie Daigle.
The No. 8 Nittany Lions (5-1-2, 0-0-1) come into the matchup after a draw against Indiana, their opening matchup in Big Ten play. Penn State, after a loss to Stanford, is 2-0-1 in its last three matchups with wins against Santa Clara and Liberty.
The Nittany Lions are led by Mieke Schiemann, who has 3 goals and 7 points this season. Behind her is Ally Schlegel, who has 3 goals and 6 points in eight games.
Penn State currently is outscoring opponents 13-6 to begin the campaign, with a shooting margin in its favor, 108-76. Goalkeeper Katherine Asman enters with a record of 5-1-2, with a goals against average (GAA) of 0.78 and a save percentage of .800. Asman also has faced 74 shots, with 24 saves and 6 goals allowed.
Senior goalkeeper Meagan McClelland looks to match Asman, as the Kearny, New Jersey, native has a 9-0-0 record, with a GAA of 0.57 and a save percentage of .762. McClelland also has faced 80 shots, with 16 saves and 5 goals allowed.
As Rutgers looks to continue upon its best start to a season in program history, the Knights also look to become the first team in college soccer to be 10-0-0 in 2022. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network.
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