Women's Soccer Loses to No. 4 Penn State in Season Finale

10/28/2001

Senior goalkeeper Rachel Brown tied her school record with 16 saves in her final collegiate game.

PITTSBURGH-After playing a strong first half against No. 4 Penn State, the Pittsburgh women's soccer team lost, 6-2, to the Nittany Lions.

Penn State's speed became evident as it had numerous open opportunites and shots at the Panther net in the second half after entering halftime with just a 1-0 lead. Senior Panther goalkeeper Rachel Brown (Burnley, England/St. Christopher's/Alabama), playing in her final game, tied her own school record with 16 saves in the loss.

The Nittany Lions (14-3-1) scored the game's first goal just 6:17 in on a rebound shot by Joanna Lohman that slipped past Brown and just across the goal line. The rest of the first half went back and forth and Penn State outshot Pittsburgh, 9-2, but the Panthers had many chances thwarted by the Nittany Lion defense, led by Bonnie Young.

After nearly 11 more scoreless minutes, Penn State made it a 2-0 contest on a breakaway goal by Christie Welsh. Welsh added her second goal of the game just 2:38 later on a blast from the top of the box to make it 3-0. Stephanie Smith tallied off a corner kick at the 65:27 mark to give the Nittany Lions a four-goal cushion.

Pittsburgh got on the board when freshman Cara Senger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) got free after Jacqueline Fix (Center, Pa./Center) sent a cross pass into the box. Senger's shot got behind Penn State goalkeeper Alison Weimer, who had come into the game to replace Jaime Stitch. It was Senger's first career goal.

Penn State added two more goals in a span of 4:53 when Welsh completed her hat trick on a nifty breakaway move and Stephanie Pezzullo blasted one behind Brown into the right corner.

In her last collegiate game, midfielder Katrina Shibata (Lakewood, Calif./Mayfair) scored her third goal of the season when she deked Weimer and fired the ball into an empty net at 81:31. Fellow seniors Andrea Graybill (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) and Melissa Smith (Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek) recorded assists on Shibata's goal.

The Panthers finished with eight shots, led by Shibata's three attempts and two by Annette Agredano (Tucson, Ariz./Tucson High Magnet). Penn State had 30 shots, with Welsh getting eight of them.

Pittsburgh completed the regular season at 7-9-1, its highest winning percentage (.431) in six seasons of play. The Panthers went 8-11 in 1998, but the winning percentage was .421.