Nov. 16, 2007
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Host Maryland's NCAA Final Four Page
Postgame Press Conference (mp3)
Photos of Friday's game from NCAAphotos.com
College Park, Md. - Mallory Weisen scored a first half goal in the 14th minute and Shaun Banta added a late goal with just over 10 minutes to play in the second half and the Penn State defense once again stifled one of the country's top ranked teams as the Nittany Lions knocked off No. 2 Wake Forest 2-0 in the national semifinals on Friday night, five days after knocking off third-ranked Maryland on the same field.
The win pushes the Nittany Lions into Sunday's national championship game, where they will face North Carolina, who topped Connecticut 4-2 in the first semifinal game. Penn State will make its second appearance in the NCAA championship game. The Nittany Lions first appeared in the NCAA national championship game in 2002, falling to Wake Forest.
Friday's game was the first meeting with the Demon Deacons since that 2002 meeting and it was also Penn State's first win ever over Wake Forest.
The game was played around the middle of the field for most of the first 14 minutes of the game. Wake Forest had the only shot of the game to that point, which was wide. Penn State had a couple of breakaway opportunities in the first 14 minutes but was not able to get off any shots.
In the 15th minute, after another such advantage on the offensive end, Penn State was awarded the first penalty corner of the game. Mallory Weisen's shot went off the foot of a Wake Forest defender and deflected into the cage to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead at the 14:03 mark. Jen Long and Allison Scola were credited with assists on the play.
Penn State yielded a pair of penalty corners to Wake Forest late in the first half but the Demon Deacons were unable to convert on either chance. Jen Beaumont made a save on one and on the second one, the shot was called for being too high.
The ball spent much of the second half on Penn State's end of the field as Wake Forest possessed the ball frequently on the Nittany Lions' side of the field. But Penn State stifling defense greatly limited what the Deacons were able to get on offense. Just as they did against Maryland on the same field in the second round last weekend, the Nittany Lions disrupted the timing and picked off several Demon Deacon passes while they were on the attack.
The Nittany Lions picked up an insurance goal at the 59:28 mark as Shaun Banta did some nifty dribbling to free herself to a shot, which she finished unassisted to make it 2-0. Banta stole the ball from a Wake defender just inside the 25 and dribbled around several defenders and into the circle, where she was able to free herself for just long enough and at just the right spot just to the right of the goal before unleashing a one-timer for her eighth goal of the year.
Wake Forest had two good scoring chances in the second half but when the defense did let a shot go through, Beaumont made outstanding saves each time. In the 55th minute, just before Banta scored the insurance goal, Wake's Chelsea Cipriani deflected a shot in front of the cage but Beaumont made a nice save and the ball was cleared.
Then, with just under three minutes remaining in the second half, Wake a sequence in which it got off two straight shots from very close range but Beaumont made two more outstanding saves to preserve the shutout.
Sunday's championship will begin at noon and it will be televised live by CSTV.
Postgame Notes
- Penn State has now defeated three straight ACC teams in its first three games of the NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions will have the opportunity to make it four straight against North Carolina on Sunday.
- The Nittany Lions have met the Tar Heels six times in the NCAA Tournament and are 1-5 against them. The last meeting was in last year's first round, also in College Park, and the Nittany Lions won 4-3.
- Four of Penn State's previous six meetings with North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament came in the final four, but this will be the schools' first ever meeting in the national championship game.
- Banta now has six points on two goals and three assists in five postseason games
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Charlene Morett
Opening Statement
"I'll just continue to say how proud I am of this group and the team and their effort. When you watch them play, they just play with so much fire and so much determination and really taking advantage of opportunities inside the circle. Wake Forest is a very talented team and had a great passing game going and I think that we were able to get some pressure on them and create some transitional play for us that sort of led to our goals."
On the defense
"The defensive effort from the forwards on down is just very impressive and Jen Beaumont did an outstanding job in the cage. We talk about it a lot, how important it is for us to play good defense and get pressure on the ball and create some turnovers and it starts with the forwards and their attitudes and it goes all the way down to the deep defense. Jen Long does a great job of stepping up and coming through a lot and Jen Beaumont is right behind her."
Goalkeeper Jen Beaumont
On how the team has progressed since the last meeting with North Carolina
"We've come a long way from that point in our season. That was probably the lowest point in the whole season, I'd have to say. Since then, we've just built upon that and looked upon that as `we can't go any lower than that,' so just keep working hard, get the shots off, keep putting in a great effort from the forwards to the backs to the goalies to everyone. We just need to build on the last game. We're not really looking to redeem ourselves from last game."
Forward Shaun Banta
On her goal
"It took me about five years to learn how to play defense but I finally had my stick down a couple of times low and blocked a pass and we talked about their goalie being good and coming out (of the cage) so I tried to pull her under and saw the open goal. It was very exciting just to be a little bit relieved that we had (another) goal."
Midfielder/Back Allison Scola
On national championship game opponent North Carolina
"I think our main word is just `believe'. We've just got to go out there and believe and stick to the game plan and stick to our (pregame) goals before the game. We have to stick to our game plan and not worry about what they're doing but we have to worry about what we have to do."
