Penn State’s midfield saw huge improvement and played a strong game against Army West Point on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament.
Entering the contest as the No. 8 seed with home-field advantage, the blue and white walked away from Jeffrey Field with a 3-0 win over the Black Knights.
The midfield’s passing game has been a struggle for Penn State throughout the season. The midfield unit has been somewhat rocky and inconsistent, but it seemed that it found its footing when it really mattered – in the postseason.
In a do-or-die situation, a win was critical for both teams to advance further into the NCAA Tournament. And that pressure seemed to motivate Penn State’s midfield to show up on Saturday.
A notable struggle from the blue and white’s midfield this season has been the lack of passing lanes. The reason why many offensive opportunities hadn’t been created was largely due to the lack of breakthroughs against opposing defenses.
This wasn’t the case on Saturday, though.
Starting midfielders Riley Cross, Molly Martin, Julia Raich and Riley Gleason were key pieces to the success of the Nittany Lions against Army, as they created big moments through their continued control of the midfield.
“That’s a group that’s got a lot of experience,” coach Erica Dambach said. “They can do it on both sides of the ball.”
Gleason and Cross, in particular, were major standouts of the starting four. Both were consistently the first to get touches on neutral balls and win offensive battles.
Gleason was especially impactful in the two opening goals from the Nittany Lions.
In the ninth minute, the redshirt senior passed a strong ball through the midfield up to forward Kaitlyn MacBean to give Penn State the early lead. Her ability to control the ball while looking ahead created the chance and put the blue and white up 1-0.
Later, the Mission Viejo, California, native settled a rebound and fed the ball to forward Amelia White for another huge goal in the 19th minute.
Gleason’s passing was an integral part of Penn State’s success. Her passing angles were sharp and accurate, placing the ball at the feet of the forwards and allowing them to finish the job.
Cross was another big player and helped to create equally as big opportunities for the blue and white’s offense.
The freshman was exceptional in her passing, making herself available as an outlet for defenders looking up while also looking to pass forward to the strikers playing further up the pitch.
Cross even produced her own chances, with a big shot in the 8th minute that resulted from pass-and-go style passing across Army’s 18-yard box. She remained consistent through the remainder of the game, getting a few more shots off in the second half.
It shouldn’t come as a shock that Martin had yet another strong passing game. Despite some midfield struggles this season, she has been a reliable player in the center of the field.
The redshirt junior made her most notable play in the 30th minute, when she sent a ball from the back of the pitch up to the top corner for MacBean. Ultimately, her accuracy in the pass allowed MacBean to draw a penalty kick.
While no goal was scored, the momentum kept Penn State alive, and the high quality of passing continued to help.
Despite being relatively quiet in the first half, Raich came alive in the second half. With a huge run-up field in the 57th minute, the redshirt senior was able to pass a solid ball to MacBean.
The Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, native also had an integral long ball that was sent in and resulted in a late Penn State goal to increase its lead even further.
“To me, that’s one of the best midfield three in the country,” Dambach said.
The midfield played as a cohesive unit on Saturday, keeping the ball in Penn State’s possession and creating huge offensive moments that resulted in big goals.
“Going into the Round of 32, your midfield is gonna have to control the game,” Dambach said. “I’ll take our three over anybody right now.”
Moving forward in the tournament, the midfield will be a weapon for the blue and white if they continue to play consistently.
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Penn State women’s soccer played Army West Point on Saturday for the first round of the NCAA…
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