UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- For the fifth time in program history the Penn State women's soccer team has advanced to the College Cup. No. 6 Penn State tallied a 2-0 victory over the No. 4 West Virginia Mountaineers Saturday night at Jeffrey Field in the NCAA quarterfinals.With the victory, Penn State (20-3-2) has won 20 games in a single season for the ninth time in program history. The 2015 season comes to close for West Virginia with a program-best 19 wins (19-3-1).
The Nittany Lion defense recorded its sixth-straight shutout and 13th on the season.
"I just want to start out with congratulating West Virginia on a fabulous season," head coach Erica Walsh said. "Obviously West Virginia has so much to be proud of and that is a really good team we battled with tonight. I thought the quality of play overall was fantastic. Both sides of the ball, so many quality players and just two good discipline teams so I'm really proud to come out on top. Obviously this is a really special senior class for us and to watch them lead and to watch them grow. Britt Eckerstrom was fabulous tonight in goal. All of our seniors have been so special throughout this final run of the season here. And to watch these young players just grow as a season goes on has just been really impressive. And there's so much to be proud of with this group."
The high-powered West Virginia offense entered the match leading the nation with 24.1 shots per game and posted a mark of 2.77 goals per game. The stingy Nittany Lion defense held WVU to zero goals on 10 shot attempts in the 90 minutes of play.
In the opening 10 minutes of the match, Penn State posted a pair of shot attempts -- one from Nickolette Driesse and one from Mallory Weber -- both were wide of the net. Though, in the 12th minute the Nittany Lions posted the first goal of the contest.
The Nittany Lions recorded their first goal of the match off of Emily Ogle's seventh goal of the 2015 campaign. Her goal Saturday was her fourth of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
After a West Virginia foul 30 yards out, Ogle stepped up on the set piece for the Nittany Lions. From the left side of the field, Ogle fired the ball on goal and over the out-stretched Hannah Steadman for the 1-0 Nittany Lion lead in the 12th minute of play.
Prior to today's match, the WVU defense tallied 15 shutouts and only allowed nine goals on the year.
WVU looked to respond minutes later after the Ogle goal with a pair of shot attempts. Britt Eckerstrom made her first save of the night on Kailey Utley's shot attempt in the 17th minute and two minutes later, Ashley Lawrence recorded a shot attempt that went wide of the net.
The Nittany Lions and Mountaineers exchanged shot attempts throughout the first half and neither team able to find the back of net, until the 39th minute.
Freshman Ellie Jean brought the ball down the left-side of the field and crossed the ball into the penalty area. With a few Nittany Lions in the area, Frannie Crouse called for the ball and placed the ball into the upper-left corner of the net for her 10th goal of the season.
The Nittany Lions recorded a corner kick in the final seconds of the half, but were unable to tally one more goal before halftime.
In the opening frame, Penn State outshot West Virginia, 7-4, including a margin of 4-1 in shots on goal.
The intensity of play continued to build in the second half as West Virginia was in search of its first goal of the night.
West Virginia tallied a pair of shots following a corner kick in the 48th minute of action. On the corner kick, Eckerstrom stepped up and saved Kadeisha Buchanan's shot attempt and four minutes later, Michaela Abam's shot attempt was blocked by the Nittany Lion defense keeping the shutout intact.
Hannah Steadman made four key-saves in the second half of regulation to keep the score within reach, including three saves on Crouse, who led the team with five shot attempts. On the night, Steadman made six saves in net for WVU.
Eckerstrom made her third, and final, save of the night in the 80th minute on Amandine Pierre-Louis' shot attempt and WVU posted its final shot of the night in the 85th minute, but the Nittany Lion defense was there for the block.
In all, Penn State outshot WVU, 14-10, including a margin of 8-3 in shots on goal.
The Nittany Lions will play Rutgers in the semifinals of the College Cup at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, on ESPNU.