Linnehan’s hat trick leads Penn State over Central Connecticut State.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Entering the evening looking to bounce back from its early exit from the Big Ten Tournament, Penn State did just that as they opened up the NCAA Tournament with a dominant 7-0 victory over Central Connecticut State.

The Nittany Lions came out aggressive early and were nearly rewarded in the second minute, but the offside flag denied Olivia Borgen from opening up the scoring, and then Payton Linnehan went to work.

Kaitlyn MacBean played a pass around a Blue Devil defender to Kaelyn Wolfe. The freshman made a run into the 18-yard box before sending a pass to the top of the box toward Linnehan, and the Massachusetts native made no mistake sending a beautiful strike into the top left corner to give Penn State an early 1-0 lead.

Three minutes later, Linnehan would strike again. Cori Dyke sent a corner kick into the box that Borgen flicked toward the top of the 18-yard box. Linnehan was the first to it and sent a marvelous volley into the top right corner.

The blue and white would continue to press the attack, and in the 25th minute, Linnehan secured the hat trick.

Eva Alonso played a pass to MacBean in the box, who sent a low shot that goalkeeper Melina Ford could not corral, and Linnehan tapped it in to secure the hat trick.

“I mean, it feels great. I feel like that’s good for my confidence,” Linnehan said.“It was a great piece of confidence, especially going into the second round.”

Six minutes later, Mieke Schiemann would join in on the party. Following Amelia White drawing a foul just outside the penalty area, Dyke swung a free kick into the box that Schiemann deflected into the back of the net to make it 4-0 Penn State.

The Nittany Lions continued to press the attack and got rewarded four minutes later. Wolfe sent a long ball to Rebecca Cooke, who beat her defender before getting taken down inside the box by Katarzyna Zawadzki.

Dyke stepped to the spot for the Nittany Lions and sent Ford the wrong way to make it 5-0.

“We like to practice [penalties] a lot. Not just me, like everyone on the team, that’s something that we focus on in training,” Dyke said.“When you get out there on the field, it's just trusting your preparation.”

Cooke continued to make her presence felt as the second half began. Elle Kershner would intercept a pass before sending a through ball to Cooke, who split two defenders before once again going down in the box.

Kershner would step to the spot, and newly subbed-in goalkeeper Caitlin Murphy would guess correctly, but Julia Raich would pounce on the rebound to score the sixth Nittany Lion goal of the match.

After setting up the prior two goals, Cooke would get one of her own in the 53rd minute, as she headed in a Kershner cross to convert the extra point for the blue and white.

Goalkeepers Kat Asman, Mackenzie Gress and Amanda Poorbaugh combined to make one save en route to the Nittany Lions' 11th clean sheet of the season.

With the win, Penn State moves on to the Round of 32 while Central Connecticut State’s campaign comes to an end.

“When I close my eyes tonight, [ I’ll be] just grateful for another week together,” head coach Erica Dambach said.

Next up for the Nittany Lions is the aforementioned second round of the NCAA Tournament, as the blue and white will host the winner of Arizona State University and Santa Clara University on Nov 17, with the kick-off time still being determined.

Ben Palillo is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email bgp5079@psu.edu.