COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 15 Penn State women’s soccer dropped its 2024 regular season finale on Sunday afternoon, falling by a 4-1 margin to the No. 21 Ohio State Buckeyes in its third consecutive nationally ranked road matchup from Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
In defeat, Penn State drops to 11-5-3 overall through its 19th and final match of the 2024 campaign, dropping to 5-4-2 against Big Ten Conference competitors following the 11-match league calendar. The loss guaranteed that PSU would open its 2024 postseason in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament later this week from Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota seeded between No. 7 and No. 10 in the league tournament. With the win in hand, Ohio State climbs to 11-4-3 overall and 6-3-2 against conference foes, awaiting the remainder of the decision Sunday matches to go final before determining their seeding.
On the final box score, Ohio State picked up a 21-17 differential in total shot attempts, becoming the eighth opponent this season to out-shoot Penn State overall. The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes played to a 7-7 draw in terms of on-target shot attempts, with the sides also recording a narrow battle in the corner kick competition. OSU out-cornered Penn State by a slim 4-3 margin overall on the afternoon. The Buckeyes were more overtly physical on the day, booking 13 fouls against seven whistles for the Blue & White, also notching the only two yellow cards on the day from the officiating crew.
Individually, redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean recorded her 14th goal of the 2024 campaign for PSU with a second-half tally that cut the Buckeye lead back to two scores. MacBean, a native of Excelsior, Minnesota, heads back to her home state for the Big Ten Tournament later this week boasting the third-highest scoring tally in the B1G behind Minnesota’s Khyah Harper and OSU’s Kailyn Dudukovich. Senior midfielder Jordan Fusco collected her ninth assist on the year, with her eighth helper of a MacBean goal in the process, while freshman forward Aubrey Kulpa dished out her third collegiate assist on the lone PSU goal to improve to 11 points on her rookie campaign.
In goal, Nittany Lion keeper and redshirt sophomore Mackenzie Gress turned back a trio of Buckeye shots on goal while allowing a quartet of scores en route to her second loss of the year. Gress was forced to defend against the most shots she has faced in her collegiate career to date, with the 21…
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