Texas A&M
Penn State
Aggies Fall to No. 2 Penn State in NCAA Sweet 16
Nov 19, 2005 | Soccer
November 19, 2005
Penn State senior forward Tiffany Weimer scored three goals to lead the No. 2-ranked Nittany Lions to a 4-1 win over No. 9 Texas A&M in the third round of the NCAA Division I women?™s soccer championships Saturday afternoon at Jeffrey Field.
With the loss the Aggies, Big 12 regular season and tournament champions, ended their season at 18-4-2. The Nittany Lions improved to 22-0-1 and advanced to the Elite Eight for the seventh time in eight years.
I?™m proud of my players for what was a very good run,? A&M coach G Guerrieri said. ?We talk about whenever you come to a point in the season when it is over, you want to go out against someone who is a better team and I thought Penn State was the better team today.?
The Aggies spent a good bit of the afternoon defending Penn State?™s attack, which ranked fourth nationally in scoring.
?We came out with some things in mind that we wanted to do,? Guerrieri said. ?We took some risks in our numbers in defense because we wanted to see if we could hold the ball and possess the ball in the attack and we weren?™t able to do that. We couldn?™t keep the ball in any kind of sustained attack, and it just made it to where the game became one of us defending and not being able to counter as well as we can.?
Texas A&M held off several early Penn State rushes before the Aggies took the initial lead of the match in the 19th minute.
A&M had a chance to score first in the 12th minute when junior forward Kat Krambeer bent a ball from the right side of the penalty area across the top of the 6-yard box. Senior midfielder Laura Probst?™s shot bounced off a defender and just wide of the frame for a corner kick.
A Penn State foul in the 19th minute would lead to A&M?™s goal on the afternoon and an early 1-0 Aggie lead.
Natalie Jacobs fouled A&M sophomore Amy Berend deep in Nittany Lion territory on the left side of the field. Junior defender Linda Pierson served the ensuing free kick into the penalty area. The ball bounced several times into the middle of the box, where Melissa Garey chipped the ball from seven yards out over PSU keeper Erin McLeod and into the upper left corner of the net. The goal was Garey?™s 19th of the season.
The Nittany Lions almost equalized with just over a minute to play in the first half. A header shot by Denay Riley off a cross was heading into the right side of the net, but Probst headed the ball off the line and back into the mixer. Sheree Gray took the rebound and ripped a point-blank shot, but A&M senior keeper Kati Jo Spisak made a diving save to her left to smother the ball.
The Aggie defense made three huge saves early in the second half before Zoe Bouchelle finally found the back of the net, tying the match at 1-1. A great individual effort by Allie Long proved key in the goal as she slotted a ball into the box for PSU forward Tiffany Weimer, who found Bouchelle. Her shot from six yards out went across the frame and into the upper right corner of the net.
The game remained a draw until just under 20 minutes left in regulation.
Weimer, a Herrmann Trophy finalist and the Big Ten?™s offensive player of the year, gave her side the lead with 17 minutes to play, weaving through the defense and going one-on-one against Spisak. The Aggie keeper charged towards the penalty spot but Weimer flipped the ball over Spisak and into the net for her 29th goal of the year.
Just over two minutes later Weimer made the score 3-1. After A&M junior defender Lauren Pfister got a piece of Weimer?™s challenge, the Nittany Lion senior hurdled Pfister, picked up the loose ball and again beat a diving Spisak at point blank range, this time low and to the right side of the goal.
After the Aggie defense was called for a foul inside the box with 15 minutes to play, Spisak stopped Weimer on a penalty kick attempt to keep the match a two-goal game.
Weimer clinched her fourth career hat-trick in the 87th minute, taking a cross from Sheree Gray and heading it into the right-side netting for the match?™s final score.
Spisak tied a career high with 10 saves in the match, and the Aggies?™ 14 total stops marked the third most in school history.
Penn State outshot the Aggies 28-6 on the evening, putting 18 on frame to A&M?™s three. McLeod improved to 21-0-1 in net for the Nittany Lions while making two saves.
?I?™m really proud of this team and especially the seniors,? Guerrieri said. ?This team always carried itself with so much class, both on and off the field. We won games with style and we continue to set higher and higher standards for the program. The future and the expectations of Aggie soccer are sky high.?
Texas A&M will be hosting the NCAA Women?™s College Cup, December 2 and 4, at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. Tickets are available by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE or by visiting www.aggieathletics.com.
NOTES: Penn State improved to 50-1 at home over the last five seasons?...the trip to the NCAA ?Sweet 16? was the Aggies seventh in school history and 6th in the last seven years.
