Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1512721
4 8 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State fought back o n ce i n i ts m a tc h u p against Clemson in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Wom- en's Soccer Tournament. But the Tigers were seeded first for a reason, and when they jumped back ahead late in the Nov. 25 match, the visiting Nit- tany Lions weren't able to re- spond. PSU fell to Clemson, 2-1, coming up one win short of making its first College Cup ap- pearance in eight years. The Nittany Lions gave the Tigers all they could handle in the evenly matched contest. After surrendering the game's first goal in the 69th minute, PSU responded less than three minutes later when redshirt sophomore for- ward Kaitlyn MacBean sent a shot into the bottom left corner, just beyond the reach of goalkeeper Halle Mackiewicz. Her shot grazed the post and bounced in for the equalizer. The score was still tied heading into the 84th minute, but that's when Clem- son's Caroline Conti scored off a re- bound of a shot that graduate goalkeeper Katherine Asman had initially saved. The Nittany Lions nearly responded to that goal, too. With 45 seconds remain- ing, MacBean fired her fourth shot of the game at the Clemson net. It ended up hitting the right post, and the Tigers held on for a win that sent them to the College Cup for the first time in their history. Penn State had been hoping to make its sixth College Cup appearance since the program's inaugural season in 1994. The Nittany Lions last reached collegiate soccer's main event in 2015, the year they won their first and only national cham- pionship. Since then, they've been to the Sweet 16 every year and to the Elite Eight three times but haven't been able to take the next step. Asman did everything in her power to extend the Nittany Lions' latest tourna- ment run — as well as her own career. She made 5 saves against the Tigers be- fore she and her teammates bowed out of the tournament. A four-year starter from Roswell, Ga., Asman ended her career with a 1.00 goals-against average and a 55-21-10 re- cord as a starter, the fourth-winningest mark in school history. She was the Big Ten leader this past season with a 0.642 goals-against average and a save per- centage of 85.6. The Nittany Lions' tournament run started with a pair of shutouts. Asman faced only 1 shot in the opener against Central Connecticut State, while senior forward Payton Linnehan tallied 3 goals in a 7-0 romp at Jeffrey Field on Nov. 10. Linnehan and MacBean provided all of the scoring a week later, and Asman had 4 saves in a 2-0 win over visiting Santa Clara. Penn State's third-round matchup against Saint Louis on Nov. 19 was a much more tense affair. The Nittany Lions attempted 24 shots to the Bil- likens' 13, yet they went into the final minutes of regula- tion play at Jeffrey Field trail- ing 3-2. Junior defender Mieke Schiemann tied the score in the 87th minute off an assist from super senior midfielder Cori Dyke, and Linnehan ended the game with a goal in the second overtime period. Asman tied a career high by playing all 110 minutes. The Nittany Lions earned their share of individual hon- ors following the season, the most notable being a second-team All- America nod for Dyke from the United Soccer Coaches. In her final collegiate season, the Littleton, Colo., native to- taled a career-high 16 points on 5 goals and 6 assists. One of four PSU players to start all 23 games, Dyke led the team with 1,914 minutes played. During the Nittany Li- ons' victory over Santa Clara, she be- came the program's all-time leader in career minutes. Dyke, who had been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year prior to the Lions' postseason run, finished with 9,069 minutes played, topping Kaleigh Riehl's previous career record of 8,847 set from 2015-19. Dyke also received first-team All- North Region accolades, as did super senior defender Kate Wiesner, a stalwart on the backline who had 2 goals and 5 assists while playing a career-high 1,688 minutes. Asman received third-team all- region honors. Penn State finished its 30th season as a varsity program with a 16-3-4 overall re- cord and a 6-1-3 mark in Big Ten play. ■ ELITE AGAIN The PSU women's soccer team makes its first Elite Eight appearance since 2018 M AT T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M Penn State's sprint to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals was fueled by (left to right) super senior midfielder Cori Dyke, graduate goalkeeper Katherine Asman and super senior defender Kate Wiesner. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS OLYMPIC SPORTS