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MEN'S SOCCER Penn State falls to Providence in NCAA second round R esurgent Penn State seemed poised to keep its momentum going into the third round of the NCAA tournament. But a;er building a two-goal lead against Provi- dence in a second-round game Nov. 24 at Je:rey Field, the Nittany Lions saw their postseason end with a 3-2 overtime loss. Trevor Davock scored the winning goal o: an assist from Paulo Lima, ending the Nittany Lions' season. In Je: Cook's second year as head coach, the Lions put together their winningest sea- son since 2014, 8nish- ing 12-4-3 overall and second in the Big Ten at 6-1-1. Following their NCAA tournament ouster, Cook was careful to put the loss in context. "What I just said to the players in the team room is that I'm immensely proud of what they accomplished in the 2019 sea- son," he said. "I'm going to miss this team immensely. But what they've done as a group to put Penn State back in the na- tional picture deserves a lot of credit. "I thought we battled really well against an outstanding Providence team. We put ourselves in a good position and poten- tially maybe could have scored a goal or two more over the course of the 90 min- utes. So, although I'm absolutely dis- traught at the thought of the season being over, I'm also a very proud coach and re- ally grateful for the work these guys have put in all season long." The Nittany Lions, who were seeded 15th in the 48-team tournament and re- ceived a 8rst-round bye, were outshot in the 8rst half of the game, 5-1. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Josh Levine made three saves to keep the game scoreless. The Nittany Lions came on strong at the beginning of the second half, as Aaron Molloy 8red a long-range shot from the top of the box that hit the inside of the post and went in for a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute. It was the senior cap- tain's ninth goal of the season, tying him with Liam Butts for the team lead. Less than 8ve minutes later, the freshman duo of Kyle May and Alex Stevenson con- nected inside the box to put Penn State up 2-0. But Providence cut that lead in half less than a minute later on a goal by Esben Wolf. Hoping to add an insurance goal, Penn State 8red six shots at the Provi- dence net over the next 20 minutes, but goalkeeper Austin Aviza made 8ve saves to keep the Friars within one. Providence tied the score on a goal by Tiago Mendonca in the 86th minute, forcing overtime. Trevor Davock scored the golden goal in the 95th minute, ad- vancing the Friars to a third-round matchup against Clemson. ■ S enior goalkeeper Amanda Dennis made a career-high 12 saves, but her e:ort wasn't enough to stave o: a season-end- ing defeat, as Penn State fell to host Stan- ford, 2-0, in the third round of the NCAA tournament on Nov. 24. Dennis, an Academic All-Big Ten per- former from San Diego, made several spectacular saves to keep the Nittany Lions within striking distance throughout the game. Her 12 saves are tied for the 8;h-highest single-game total in school history. Before Penn State's visit to Stan- ford, the most recent Nittany Lion goal- keeper to make a dozen saves in a single game was future U.S. Women's National Team starter Alyssa Naeher in 2009 against Minnesota. Stanford netted a goal in the 30th minute to take a 1-0 lead. A shot from Catarina Macario settled into the top cor- ner of the goal from 20 yards out to give the Cardinal the early edge. The Stanford defense limited the Nit- tany Lions on the o:ensive end in the 8rst half and took a 1-0 lead into the half. The Cardinal scored a second goal in the 65th minute. An unlucky de9ection o: of a Nittany Lion defender redirected the shot into the net and gave the hosts a 2-0 lead. In the 83rd minute, the Nittany Lions were awarded a free kick just outside of the Cardinal penalty box, but their shot was o: the mark as they attempted to cut into the Stanford lead. Top-ranked Stanford held on for a shutout victory and advanced to the NCAA quarter8nals. The Nittany Lions, who opened their season with a 2-1 loss to the Cardinal in August at Je:rey Field, 8nished with a 17- 7-1 record and an 8-3-0 mark in Big Ten play. Penn State won its eighth Big Ten tournament title and fourth under head coach Erica Dambach. At NCAAs, the Nittany Lions advanced to the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in the past nine seasons. They defeated Stony Brook, 3-1, in a first-round game Nov. 15 at Jeffrey Field, then outlasted Arizona, 4-3 in overtime, in a second- round matchup at Stanford on Nov. 22. Frankie Tagliaferri scored the winning goal against the Wildcats in the 97th minute. Dennis 8nished her career ranked fourth in Penn State history with a .778 goals-against average. She won 44 games as the Nittany Lions' goalkeeper and recorded 24 shutouts in her collegiate ca- reer. She is also fourth all-time with her 44 wins, 6,129 minutes, 16 seconds played and 202 saves. ■ W O M E N ' S S O C C E R Stanford ends Nittany Lions' season COOK

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