Oct. 25, 2013
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Junior Cloe Lacasse’s 75th-minute goal propelled the University of Iowa women’s soccer team to a 3-2 victory over No. 16 Penn State on Friday night at the Iowa Soccer Complex. The win is the Hawkeyes’ first in program history over the Nittany Lions.
“I told the team, let’s bask in it a little bit,” said UI head coach Ron Rainey. “I’m just so proud of our team. This was a huge win for Iowa.”
After going into the half tied at two, Lacasse had an opportunity to give Iowa the lead 10 minutes into the second half when she broke free. In a one-on-one situation, Penn State goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom guessed right before making a diving stop to keep the game tied.
When Lacasse had a second opportunity at the 74:24 mark, she capitalized. Lacasse turned a Nittany Lion attack into a successful counter, driving the length of the pitch and scoring the game-winning goal when her shot deflected off Eckerstrom and the English pushed it into the back of the net. The strike was Lacasse’s fourth goal of the season.
Penn State controlled the ball much of the second half, amassing 10 corner kicks. Iowa withstood a full-scale Nittany Lion attack in the closing minutes with Lacasse sending the ball out-of-bounds off of a Nittany Lion player as time expired.
The Hawkeyes struck first at the 3:54 mark when junior Katie Nasenbenny headed the ball past Eckerstrom into the top left corner of the goal, via a corner kick from senior Ashley Catrell. The goal was Nasenbenny’s third of the season.
Penn State answered in the 23rd minute, as a handball was whistled on Iowa in its own box. Tani Costa softly kicked the ball into the left corner of the goal to knot the game, 1-1.
The back-and-forth affair continued when Catrell punched the ball between the legs of Eckerstrom at the 40:31 mark, giving the Hawkeyes their second lead of the game. Lacasse was credited with an assist on the goal.
Penn State answered just 33 seconds later when Costa struck again, netting her second goal of the game and eighth goal of the season via an assist from Emily Carrollo.
The Hawkeyes launched 16 shots at Eckerstrom, while Penn State attempted 11 shots. Sophomore Hannah Clark made two saves in the contest to improve to 12-4-1 on the year.
“Penn State has such great athletes, and they play very fast,” said Rainey. “We defended really well as a group, and we got a couple counters, which is what we talked about a lot this week.”
The victory improves Iowa’s record to 12-4-1 this season and 4-4-1 in Big Ten play. The 12 wins are tied for the second-most in program history.
The Hawkeyes return to action Sunday, hosting Ohio State at 1 p.m. (CT) at the Iowa Soccer Complex. Iowa will hold its Senior Day festivities, honoring Catrell and Alex Melin in a pregame ceremony.