UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Highlighted by senior+ forward Payton Linnehan’s second career hat trick, fifth-ranked and second-seeded Penn State roared past the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils by a 7-0 margin in opening round action of the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship from Jeffrey Field Friday night.
The Nittany Lions christened their 29th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in style, extending their first-round win streak in the nation’s premier postseason event to 14 consecutive victories. PSU has hosted the opening round of the tournament in each of the past 11 seasons excluding the COVID-adjusted 2020-21 spring campaign which was played at neutral sites, improving to 44-7-1 all-time on Jeffrey Field in the postseason. The seven-goal scoring margin brings PSU’s all-time NCAA Tournament goal differential in University Park to 162-38.
Penn State saw its season record climb to 14-2-4 overall and 11-1-1 in matches played on Jeffrey Field. The Blue & White picked up a win in their first all-time contest against Central Connecticut State while moving to 3-0 against current members of the Northeast Conference and 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament against current NEC challengers. In defeat, Central Connecticut State concludes its 2023 campaign and drops to 10-5-5 on the year after going undefeated in NEC competition and winning the…
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