Penn St. Blanks Terriers 3-0

by Tristan Hobbes

Danielle Toney scored twice and Alyssa Naeher made five first half saves as the 23/24 Penn State Nittny Lions (3-4-0) shutout the Boston University Terriers (2-3-2) 3-0 Sunday afternoon at Joseph J. Marrone Stadium in Storrs, CT.

Toney, the Blue and White’s leading scorer this season, broke a scoreless tie in the 28th minute with a beautiful goal and combined with Maddy Evans to score goals two minutes apart to start the second half. Nikki Watts turned a BU turnover into the first goal as she played a beautiful ball into space where Toney one-touched it off the outside of her right foot and just inside the near post. Toney’s second tally was a gift as sophomore keeper Annie Tooley (’12) could not control the cross from Watts and Toney was left with a wide open net.

“Today she finally pulled out of her slump,” noted Penn State head coach Erica Walsh of Toney’s two goal outburst.

On the other side of the ball, it was two-time All-America keeper Alyssa Naeher and the rest of the Penn State defense that kept BU off the score sheet. Naeher, a pre-season All-American this year, was called on to make five saves in the first half but the Blue and White tightened down and Naeher was untested in the second half.

“I think our back four, plus our goalkeeper, are tremendous,” noted Walsh. Those back four played catch all day in the backfield and the sure-footed Naeher was a popular target when BU put on the pressure.

BU trailed just 1-0 heading into the second half but the two quick goals from Penn State were too much to overcome. Freshman midfielder Megan McGoldrick (‘13) and sophomore forward Tiya Gallegos (’12) had BU’s best chances in the first half. McGoldrick (’13) fired two shots on net in a quick offensive burst and Gallegos put a shot on net from inside the 18 and fired high moments later on a one-timer. That was all BU could do offensively as they have not scored in three straight games and 335 consecutive minutes dating back to senior forward Farrell McClernon’s (’10) goal against Loyola last Friday.

“We might be pressing a little bit (offensively),” noted BU head coach Nancy Feldman of the offensive struggles. “I’d like to see us a little more composed. Today we were more patient and I think that will bode well as me move forward if we can add some more aggressiveness to that.”

Tooley ('12) played the entire game and made six saves. McGoldrick and sophomore Jessica Luscinski (’12) led the Terriers with three shots apiece.

BU will finish their six-game road trip on Friday when they take the short trip to Northeastern. The Terriers return home next Sunday when they host Harvard at 5pm.