UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 10 Penn State women’s soccer flexed its defensive muscles and withstood a 45-minute lightning delay in a scoreless season-opening draw with the second-ranked and defending national runner-up North Carolina Tar Heels on Thursday night. The Nittany Lions welcomed 3,102 fans to Jeffrey Field, the 10th-largest women’s soccer crowd in Penn State history.
With the first match of the season in the books, both the Nittany Lions and Tar Heels move to 0-0-1 to start the year. Penn State’s track record of success on Jeffrey Field in season-opening matches continued Thursday, with the Blue & White moving to 15-1-3 overall when opening the season at home. In its 30th all-time home-opener, PSU moved to 22-3-5 and 8-2-4 when tested against a nationally ranked foe in Jeffrey Field’s season debut.
Despite North Carolina running up a striking 19-5 overall advantage in total shots, the Nittany Lions managed to place more shots on target in the match, outshooting UNC by a 3-2 margin. The corner kick battle went the Tar Heels’ way, 3-2, with all three North Carolina corners coming in the match’s first 10 minutes of play. Senior+ forward Payton Linnehan, senior defender Eva Alonso and redshirt junior forward Kaitlyn MacBean all mustered shots on goal for the Nittany Lions, while senior+ midfielder Cori Dyke and senior defender Ellie…
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