University of Connecticut Athletics
Penn State ends UConn's season with 2-0 win
11/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
STORRS, CT (November 24) – Penn State’s Heidi Drummond scored two goals to lead the Nittany Lions women’s soccer team to a 2-0 shutout over Connecticut in a third round game of the 2001 Division I Women’s College Cup on Saturday afternoon at Morrone Stadium.
The loss marked the first home defeat in NCAA play for the Huskies at Morrone Stadium since December 1, 1996, a 1-0 loss to Santa Clara in the quarterfinal round. It also snapped UConn’s streak of eight consecutive quarterfinal appearances. The Huskies lost to UMass, 2-1, in the first round of NCAA play in 1992. Today’s loss completes Connecticut’s season, which finished with an 18-6-0 overall record. Penn State, 21-3-1 on the season, advanced to the quarterfinal round to face the winner of the UNC/Rutgers third round match-up.
The two teams played scoreless through the first half of play, with UConn taking the 7-4 advantage in shots.
Drummond notched her first goal at the 61:16 mark. A Penn State corner kick sent in from the left side caused mass confusion in the offensive box. Drummond got caught down directly in the center of the net and pushed the ball in to the left of UConn senior goalkeeper Shanna Caldwell (Williamsburg, VA). Stephanie Pezzulo and Christie Welsh were credited with assists. Drummond’s second chance came just over 13 minutes later. She picked off Connecticut defender Casey Zimny (Rochester, NY) and blasted a left-footed shot from just inside the box into the top-lefthand corner of the goal.
Caldwell recorded three saves in net and, for the first time all season, allowed two goals in one game. Penn State’s Emily Oleksiuk was credited with eight saves in the win. Both UConn and Penn State had 13 shots.
