No. 7 Virginia women play to 1-1 draw at Penn State

The No. 7 Virginia women’s soccer team played to a 1-1 draw at No. 11 Penn State in their first road game of the 2010 season. The teams traded second half goals to tie in front of 3,912 fans, the largest in Penn State women’s soccer history. Each team remained unbeaten on the season, with the Cavaliers moving to 2-0-1 and the Nittany Lions to 1-0-1.   

“I would say a draw is probably a fair result tonight,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “You could feel like you should have won it because you had some chances, but you could also say that there were some chances they had to win it as well. It was an exciting game, with a lot of momentum shifts from one side to the other.”

The teams traded chances over the first 32 minutes with the game remaining scoreless, when Penn State got the best scoring chance of the first half. Christine Nairn was fouled in the box, but Chantel Jones (Midlothian, Va.) saved Nairn’s ensuing penalty kick to keep the game tied at 0-0.

Early in the second half, Penn State took a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 57th minute. Off a corner kick, a ball fell to Toni Costa, whose ball towards goal was tapped in by Hayley Brock. The Cavaliers drew even in the 87th minute. Caroline Miller (Rockville, Md.) threaded a ball through to Lauren Alwine (Elizabethtown, Pa.), who chipped a shot over the keeper for the equalizer.

Virginia had two chances to win the game in overtime, but Gloria Douglas’ (Fayetteville, N.C.) chance in the first overtime sailed just wide, and PSU keeper Krissy Tribbett made a save on an Alwine breakaway in the second overtime.

Each team had 20 shots in the contest, with Penn State having an 8-5 corner kick advantage. Jones made six saves in net for Virginia, while Tribbett made four for Penn State.

No. 7 Virginia 1, No. 11 Penn State 1 (2OT)

#11 Penn State            (1-0-1)            0            1            0            0    -             1
#7 Virginia (2-0-1)                        0            1            0            0    -            1

Scoring Summary:
PSU. Hayley Brock 1 (Toni Costa 1) 57’
UVa. Lauren Alwine 2 (Caroline Miller 1) 87’

Shots: UVa 20, PSU 20
Corners: UVa 5, PSU 8
Saves: UVa 6 (Jones 6), PSU 4 (Tribbett 4)
Fouls: UVa 14, PSU 8
Offsides: UVa 2, PSU 0
Attendance: 3,912