No. 12 Penn State Celebrates Seniors with Win Over Columbia – Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 12 Penn State women’s soccer took an early two-goal lead in the first half and battled through the remainder of the match to seal a 2-1 victory over the Columbia Lions on Sunday at Jeffrey Field, with the Blue & White honoring 11 senior student-athletes and two graduating student managers following the victorious outing in the team’s annual Senior Day presented by the Penn State Alumni Association.

Following Sunday’s victory over the Lions, PSU honored the careers of Olivia Damico, Jordan Fusco, Kaitlyn MacBean, Devon Olive, Rowan Lapi, Elle Kershner, Mieke Schiemann, Kara Ogden and Natalie Wilson, in addition to senior student managers Zach Albright and Griffin Lee. Penn State’s senior day honorees were instrumental in the program’s continued success at the highest levels of collegiate soccer, with the group combining for a 79-27-11 overall record over the course of their time in Happy Valley. PSU’s graduating class has participated in five consecutive NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances, won a trio of Big Ten Conference championships and made the team’s deepest NCAA Tournament run since 2018 by reaching the Elite Eight a season ago.

The win brought Penn State’s overall season record to 7-1-1 overall, with the Nittany Lions wielding a 1-0-0 start to the Big Ten Conference season following a 6-0 thrashing of the Michigan Wolverines earlier this week. PSU’s 6-1-1 non-conference record is one of the program’s strongest marks in recent memory, with the Blue & White facing off against five opponents that were either ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll at the time of the match. The Blue & White notched their first all-time win over Columbia in the first-ever meeting of the two foes, simultaneously improving to 18-4-0 against Ivy League opponents all-time. The Lions fell to 1-3-3 overall following Sunday’s defeat and will close out their non-conference ledger next Friday night against Providence at home in New York City.

Penn State and Columbia battled in a relatively close affair for much of Sunday afternoon’s contest, with the Nittany Lions narrowly defeating CU in total shot attempts by a 9-8 margin. The Lions logged five shots on goal to Penn State’s two, and also came away with the victory in the corner kick competition, racking up an 8-4 differential in the statistic. Columbia was slightly more aggressive in their challenges, booking 13 fouls against Penn State’s eight,…