Women's soccer celebration against Carnegie Mellon
Tyler Schueck
3
Winner Penn State Berks PSBW (18-3-1, 13-0)
1
Carnegie Mellon CMUW (11-6-1, 5-2)
Winner
Penn State Berks PSBW
(18-3-1, 13-0)
3
Final
1
Carnegie Mellon CMUW
(11-6-1, 5-2)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Penn State Berks PSBW 1 2 3
Carnegie Mellon CMUW 0 1 1

Game Recap: Women's Soccer |

Sarcinello, Nittany Lions take down Carnegie Mellon in NCAA first round

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO - Dana Sarcinello recorded a pair of second half goals and the Nittany Lions came up with several key defensive stops to help lead the Penn State Berks women's soccer team to a thrilling 3-1 victory over No. 17 ranked Carnegie Mellon University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Edwards-Maurer Field on Saturday afternoon.

With the the victory, this year's team became the first squad in program history to win an NCAA Regional contest and also take down a national ranked team. The 2016 team matched the 2014 team for most wins in a season as they improve to 18-3-1 on the year.

Berks came out strong from the first whistle with early pressure that led to a possession deep in Tartan territory. Brennan Moyer took on a few defenders to get down to the end line, where she crossed a ball past the keeper but just out of the reach of the foot of Lizzie Mummau. After CMU was unable to clear the ball out, Sarcinello chipped a ball from 30-yards out that the keeper tried to deflect out of the box. But the ball came straight down and Kaylie Smucker was able to collect the loose ball and send it into the wide open net to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead at the 9:30 mark of the opening period. The goal marked Berks' first tally ever in an NCAA Tournament contest.

Paige Elmy recorded her first save of the match in the 11th minute to keep the Tartans from finding the equalizer. Both teams exchanged a few scoring opportunities through the rest of the first half, but neither scored to give Berks the 1-0 lead into the break.

CMU came out the intermission determined to tie the game, but had a shot sail high of target in the 48th minute. Less than a minute later, the Tartans had a header off a corner kick that banged off of the post and was quickly scooped by Elmy to deny any shots off the rebound.

After a shot by CMU went high in the 53rd minute, the Nittany Lions methodically worked the ball down to their offensive end and was capped off by a shot by Caitlin Golden going high of the net. Berks continued to pressure and got a corner kick in the 56th minute, but could not find the back of the net. They were finally able to capitalize when Sarcinello perfectly drilled a shot into the upper right corner to build a 2-0 cushion at the 57:15 mark.

The Tartans finally got on the board with a score at 66:07 to slice their deficit in half. CMU tried to complete the comeback down the stretch with several more corners and shots, but Elmy and the Nittany Lions defense stood strong and denied the Tartans from scoring.

Sarcinello took a free kick at 87:46 that took a diving effort from the Katie Liston to keep out of net, but Berks was able to get a corner kick out of it. Alexa Lopez put a nice feed on net, but the ball got knocked out by the Tartan defense down the sideline. Sarcinello rushed in from midfield to collect the throw-in, took a few touches and ripped a goal over the keeper and into the far back corner to put the game out of reach at 3-1 with 1:29 remaining in regulation.

The Berks players, their coaching staff, and the loyal fans that made the 500+ mile trek all watched the final seconds tick off the clock and went into a frenzy when time expired. The players embraced on the field, the senior's spent extra time enjoying the moment as a culmination of four years worth of reaching uncharted territory finally became a reality.

Golden and Mummau turned in a solid performance by utilizing their speed to attack the Tartans. The midfield play of Sarcinello, Smucker, Lopez, and Charlotte Pizzuto maintained their high level of play on offense and defense. As usual, the back line of Moyer, Shelby Baker, Megan Jardine, and Karina Raykova played 90 minutes of relentless defense to make this win a possibility. Elmy, who finished the game with four saves, made several important plays of coming out of net to thwart the Tartan attack all game. Mackenzie Fredricks and Julia Green came off the bench to give the Nittany Lions a spark.

The Nittany Lions will now face Nazareth College, who defeated host Wittenberg College 2-1 in the opening round, on Sunday, November 13 at 1 p.m.

 
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