Nebraska Earns Road Win Over No. 24 Penn State

Story posted September 28, 2018 in CommRadio, Sports by Joe Skinner

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In a mid-week conference matchup, the Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-3-2, 4-0-1) traveled to Jeffery Field to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions (6-5-0, 2-2-0).  In what was an important Big Ten match for both teams, Nebraska took the early lead and the score held in a Huskers win, 1-0. 

“All credit goes to Nebraska tonight, they had a gameplan that obviously caused us too many issues,” Penn State head coach Erica Dambach said.  “Good push from our group at the end, but way too little too late.”

Nebraska was able to capture a great opportunity when a hand ball was called on Penn State in the box, setting up a penalty kick for senior forward Savanah Uveges.  She took full advantage and buried a strike on the upper-left corner, putting the Huskers on top, 1-0.

Penn State had several chances to equalize in the first half, but Nebraska’s defense held firm and the half ended at 1-0 in favor of the Huskers. 

The Nittany Lions came out firing in the second half, holding the ball on their offensive end for the first ten minutes.  Shots from senior midfielder Charlotte Williams and freshman forward Kim Dubs were saved to hold the lead for Nebraska. 

“[We had a] mentality shift and [we were] being too naive in the first half,” Dambach said.  “We played right into what they wanted us to play into.”

Dubs had another opportunity to find Penn State’s first goal, but the shot was deflected off the hands of junior goalkeeper Aubrei Corder in a diving effort. 

Nebraska didn’t take too many risks offensively in the second half, playing with the lead for the entirety of the final 45 minutes.  The Nittany Lions scrambled to find the back of the net in the last three minutes, but Corder made a pair of huge saves to maintain the clean sheet.

“[Corder] was very good and we give her a ton of credit,” Dambach said.  “She played well, and in my opinion, she was the best on the field.” 

Despite outshooting Nebraska 16-9 and having three more corners, the Nittany Lions couldn’t capitalize late in the match and lost 1-0. 

Penn State stays at Jeffery Field for its next match, taking on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday.  Nebraska stays on the road and travels to Columbus face the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday.

 

 

Joe Skinner is a sophomore broadcast journalism major.  To contact him, email jcs6108@psu.edu.