Penn State soccer teams suffer double defeat

By ANTHONY MILLER
Collegian Staff Writer

Coming into this weekend, the Penn State women and men's soccer teams had achieved unparalleled success.

But after falling to a pair of soccer dynasties, North Carolina and Indiana, respectively, their seasons came to an abrupt halt.

Entering Friday's game against North Carolina, the Penn State women's soccer team knew the end was near.

The Lady Lions didn't know just how close it really was.

The Tar Heels (24-2) defeated Penn State 2-0 Friday in the Final Four of the NCAA Women's College Cup in San Jose, Calif., ending the Lions' dream of a national title in only their sixth season of existence.

With a win, the Lions (21-4-1) would have moved on to play in their first national championship game. Instead, they were sent home early while the Tar Heels played Notre Dame yesterday, defeating the Fighting Irish 2-0.

But Penn State women's soccer coach Patrick Farmer had nothing but praise for his team's performance.

"I thought they did a tremendous job," he said. "If they had won, I don't know how much prouder I could have been."

Unlike the early season matchup between the two teams, in which North Carolina jumped on top early, the first half of the game was characterized by strong defense and missed opportunities.

Penn State took four shots on goal in the first half while North Carolina took 12, but neither was able to get the ball past the opposing goalkeeper until the 33rd minute.

"Both goalkeepers played very well," Farmer said. "Their goalkeeper (Jenni Branam) made two really great saves to keep us off the board."

Then, with 12:04 remaining in the first stanza, Tar Heels forward Anne Remy finally connected to give North Carolina a 1-0 lead.

Tar Heels forward Kim Patrick got the ball on the left of the scoring box and dished it off to teammate Susan Bush. Bush fired the ball to Remy in the middle, where she shot the ball through traffic and past Lions goalkeeper Emily Oleksiuk into the left side of the net.

"On the first goal, they maneuvered around three defenders," Farmer said. "It came from great composure and footwork from Susan Bush."

Both teams continued to push the ball until halftime, but were forced to go into intermission with a 1-0 score.

In the second stanza, the teams continued their attacks, but neither was able to score until the game was all but decided. Farmer brought a defender forward and Oleksiuk out of the box, trying to make something happen offensively.

With Oleksiuk near midfield, Branam was able to outkick the defensive line from the goalie box. The ball got over Oleksiuk's head, where Patrick could retrieve it.

She dribbled the ball upfield and put in an insurance tally with 1:03 remaining to cap the game and the Lions' season.

"At first I was really disappointed," Oleksiuk said. "But when you look back on the season's accomplishments, one of our goals was to get to the Final Four — and we did that."

Suffering the same fate

The third time was not a charm for the Penn State men's soccer team in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Men's College Cup. The Nittany Lions dropped a 3-0 decision to Indiana on Sunday at Bill Armstrong Stadium, in Bloomington, Ind.

The Lions (19-3-1), who had previously lost twice to the Hoosiers (21-3) this season, kept the game close for the first half, going to the break with a 0-0 score.

When the teams returned for the second half, the Hoosiers' offense finally took off.

Junior forward Matt Fundenberger took the throw in and passed it to Hoosiers freshman Pat Noonan, who headed the ball past Lion goalkeeper Whit Gibson.

Noonan's goal came 2:59 into the second half with Indiana holding the upper hand. The Lions were forced to fight back, but before they could mount an offensive attack, Indiana struck again.

Noonan's assault on the Lions continued as he passed the ball to Hoosiers senior forward Alexsey Korol for another quick score.

Korol scored the third goal, his second, off an assist by Hoosiers teammate Yuri Lavrinenko to put the game away and end the Lions' season. The final score of 3-0 allowed Indiana to outscore the Lions 9-3 in their three meetings this season.

Indiana will now move on to the Final Four to face UCLA.

Collegian staff writer Darren Steele contributed to this article.