Without the powerful back line that Penn State women’s soccer has, Kaitlyn MacBean wouldn’t have been able to add her name to the scoresheet or history books.
They set her up for her first goal of the evening by preventing one of West Virginia’s, which seemed to be all the Blue and White needed to allow the game to unfold in their favor. Once she was able to break the ice 14 minutes into the game, she and the rest of the offense powered up for the victory.
“She’s taken more on her shoulders,” Penn State Head Coach Erica Dambach said about MacBean. “We needed her to come through with a goal at that point.”
Penn State, ranked No. 12, hosted longtime rival West Virginia at Jeffery Field at an earlier time slot due to storms predicted in the forecast. Despite both teams coming in 2-1-0, the Nittany Lions were able to succeed 3-1. Penn State women’s soccer is 3-1 overall on the season.
The theme during the game was MacBean’s ability to show why Penn State is one of the most dominant offensive units. Nine minutes after her first goal, she scored another one with the help from her friends.
The fans were on their feet when she did a little spin around a West Virginia defender. She then followed up with a big shot into the net.
MacBean continued to entertain everyone in the second half when she finished her night with a hat trick. This time it was the fancy footwork of her teammates that allowed her to separate from the defensive pack and pace the ball over the head of the Mountaineer’s goalie and place it just enough under the crossbar.
MacBean has scored one goal in each of the past seven consecutive games. It’s a special honor at Penn State, which only a few female soccer players hold. She ties Maya Hayes, Katie Schoepfer and Christie Welsh with her scoring streak.
“Its awesome, I said it last game but it’s nothing without the people setting me up,” MacBean said after the game.
Her hat trick is the 25th for Penn State. The last one was in November of 2023 in the first round of the NCAA Championship from Payton Linnehan, now forward for the Portland Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League.
Aubrey Kulpa, who has three goals on the season, got the assist on the hat trick. That would be the Nittany Lion freshman’s only point of the game.
West Virginia brought the heat going in the second half. They had the ball under control more often but could only get it past the defenders and Penn State’s keep in the final seconds of the game. The Mountaineers’ Ajanea Respasst scored off of a corner kick to make it 3-1.
The intense rivalry could be felt in the second half when plays became more and more physical. West Virginia’s Gianna Koss was given a yellow card warning with 13 minutes remaining after tripping a Penn Stater along the sideline.
It was noticeable that the Mountaineers were trying to keep fresh legs on the field. They had a lot of substitutions in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Before West Virginia’s only goal, the Mountaineer’s goalkeeper Mackenzie Smith prevented the score from being 4-0. Penn State’s Amelia White had a chance to put another score on the board from a sweet angle but it nearly missed the net.
Smith had met White at the door, applying pressure, but White got the shot off.
Shortly after her save, an injury had her leaving the game with Bailey Herfurth coming in. Another yellow card was given out to West Virginia in the second half due to physical contact by Sydney Ritter.
Penn State’s next game will be away as they will head over to Saint Louis to play the Billikens on September 1. As for the Mountaineers, they will play at home on September 1 against Robert Morris.
By FAN – US
