Penn State women's soccer falls to Washington in a 1-0 defeat

The Penn State Nittany Lions took on the Washington Huskies on Thursday, Oct 9 at Jeffrey Field for the Pink Match in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Both teams are coming off two-game winning streaks, with the Nittany Lions and the Huskies looking for their eighth win of the season.

Washington leads the Big Ten conference and has yet to lose to a Big Ten opponent this season. The Huskies last played the Nittany Lions at home in 2010 and defeated Penn State 2-1.

The match started with Penn State keeping possession all over the field with multiple opportunities on offense, with some corners and passes over the top. The Huskies started to pick up the pace towards the halfway point in the first half with a foul in the box that was ruled a penalty against the Nittany Lions.

Jadyn Holdenried would step up to the spot and slot home the penalty kick into the bottom right corner to put the Huskies up 1-0 just 18 minutes into the game.

The rest of the first half saw possession from both sides and some opportunities on set pieces, but no more goals were scored. Washington went into halftime with a one-goal lead over Penn State.

The second half was very defensive from Washington, not allowing any offense from Penn State. While the Nittany Lions had more shots on the night than the Huskies, their chances were not as strong, with Washington pulling away with the win.

Penn State also had more corners in the match, with eight compared to Washington’s two, despite scoring no goals in the entire game. Washington’s goalkeeper Tanner Ijams played both halves at Jeffrey Field and picked up the clean sheet for the Huskies with no goals allowed.

It’s only the second time this season that the Nittany Lions have been held scoreless with the only other time being against the undefeated Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville, where they lost 1-0.

Washington remains atop the Big Ten Conference with a record of 5-0-2 against Big Ten opponents, while Penn State falls to 3-3-1 in Big Ten play.

The Huskies are now 8-1-5 on the season, while the Nittany Lions are now 7-5-2 on the season. With five losses on the season, Penn State is only two away from matching its total losses from last season. The Nittany Lions have already surpassed their loss total from 2023 and tied their loss total from 2022.

The Penn State Nittany Lions will face the Oregon Ducks this Sunday at Jeffrey Field at 1 p.m. before going on the road to Indiana to face the Purdue Boilermakers and the Indiana Hoosiers.

Massimo Buonagurio is a second-year majoring in telecommunications. To contact him, email mkb6750@psu.edu.