STATE COLLEGE, P.A. - Monmouth University's women's soccer team was defeated 4-0 on Friday in the opening round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament by No.1 seed Penn State on Jeffrey Field.
Monmouth got off to a fast start and had an opportunity early on in the match when Hawks junior forward Joni DeMoor (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley) took a shot that forced Penn State goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher to make a sprawling save. In the 17:00 minute, Penn State forward Danielle Toney got behind the Hawks defense and blasted a shot off the post that bounced back to her and calmly deposited the ball in the back of the net for the Nittany Lions first goal of the game.
Monmouth was again denied in the 20th minute when Andrea Lopez (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean) had a quality chance from the top of the box, where Naeher was again forced to make a diving stop. The Hawks defense was up to the task for the remainder of the first half until with 1:20 left they gave up a second goal and Aubrey Aden-Buie scored the first of her two goals.
“It was unfortunate to give up the second goal with less than 2 minutes in the first half as we were hoping to go into the halftime with only a 1-0 deficit,” said Monmouth head coach Krissy Turner. “We were able to create two good scoring chances in the first half but were denied on both. Had we been able to hold the Nittany Lions to one goal in the first half, I believe the outcome could have been different.”
Aden-Buie scored her second goal of the match at 63:51. Danielle Toney notched her second goal of the match in the 73rd minute to complete the scoring for Penn St. The Hawks ended the game with seven shots while the Nittany Lions tallied 16. Senior Amy Hoyer (Chesterfield, N.J. Northern Burlington) had four shots for Monmouth, while freshman netminder Lia Fierro (Short Hills, N.J./Milburn) finished with seven stops on the evening.
The Hawks complete the 2007 campaign with a 12-5-4, earning their third Northeast Conference Championship along the way. "It was a great opportunity to showcase our program on the national stage,” said Turner. “For the first 25 minutes of the match we competed and had Penn St. on their heels. We will be losing 3 seniors to graduation and with the youth of our team and experience we gained through the success of the 2007 season, we have a lot to look forward to."
Penn State advances to the second round of the tournament where they will face Hofstra on Sunday.
