Michigan
10-2-1, 4-1-1B1G
Penn State
10-3-1, 4-2-0B1G
McCombs, Bucklin Send Wolverines to Historic Win at Penn State
10/13/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Site: State College, Pa. (Jeffrey Field)
Score: #19 Michigan 1, #11 Penn State 0
Records: U-M (10-2-1, 4-1-1 Big Ten), PSU (10-3-1, 4-2 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Oct. 18 -- vs. Indiana (U-M Soccer Stadium), 7 p.m.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Senior Tori McCombs (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) broke a scoreless tie in the 67th minute with her first goal of the season, sending the No. 19-ranked University of Michigan women's soccer team to the program's first-ever win at Penn State, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 13) at Jeffrey Field. Freshman goalkeeper Taylor Bucklin (Greenwich, Conn./Brookfield) made seven saves for her fifth shutout of the season as the Michigan defense stonewalled the conference's No. 1 scoring offense and nation's 11th-ranked team.
Taylor Bucklin
With the win, Michigan jumped Penn State (the defending 15-time Big Ten champion) in the conference standings. It is the program's first-ever win in State College (in 13 tries) and first win over Penn State since Oct. 4, 2002. Additionally, the Wolverines handed the Nittany Lions their first home conference loss since October 2010 and got a measure of revenge on the home team after being eliminated in a shootout from last year's NCAA Tournament on the same field.
In the second minute of play, senior Shelina Zadorsky (London, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) sent a ball into the box directly to senior Meghan Toohey (Philadelphia, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian), but her touch on net was saved. In the 26th minute, freshman Madisson Lewis (Canton, Mich./Plymouth) broke down the defense with a run on the far side and slipped a perfect ball in behind the defense to senior Nkem Ezurike (Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia/Sackville), whose left-footed touch from just off the goal line went just wide. U-M's last chance of the first half came in the 42nd minute off a short corner, as Zadorsky's ball into the box found fifth-year senior Holly Hein (Castaic, Calif./West Ranch), but her right-footed touch went wide of the mark. Penn State led in shots, 7-4, in the first half, and each team had two shots on goal.
The best chance for the Nittany Lions came in the 12th minute, as Emily Hurd slipped a ball from the far side into the middle of the box to Mallory Weber, who sailed one high.
McCombs was all over the park in the second half. In the 51st minute, she chased a loose ball down on the far side and sent a cross into to Ezurike, who collected it at her feet, turned left and fired a shot that went just wide of the net. In the 57th minute, Lewis took a run at the right back and attempted to place a ball to a charging Ezurike at the goal line. The ball deflected off two people back to Lewis, who put a shot in between Penn State goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom's legs that went parallel with the goal line but failed to cross over. After Lewis and Ezurike had a near-miss in the 63rd minute, the Wolverines broke through four minutes later.
Ezurike collected the ball on the near side of the 18-yard box and sent a ball into the box at the far post. Eckerstrom dove and may have gotten a piece of it, but the ball fell to McCombs, who ran at the far post and punched it in, breaking the tie. The Wolverines dropped back and defended the remainder of the half, fighting off multiple scoring chances from Penn State to secure the win.
Michigan is back at home next Friday (Oct. 18) for the first time in several weeks, welcoming Indiana to U-M Soccer Stadium. The match will begin at 7 p.m.
GAME SUMMARY
| By Periods | 1 | 2 | F |
| Michigan | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Penn State | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scoring, Time (Assist)
2nd -- U-M, Tori McCombs, 66:38 (Nkem Ezurike)
Shots: U-M 7, PSU 21
Shots on Goal: U-M 3, PSU 7
Saves: U-M 7 (Taylor Bucklin), PSU 2 (Britt Eckerstrom)
Corner Kicks: U-M 3, PSU 7
Cards: U-M, Nkem Ezurike, 85:27 (Yellow), PSU, Britt Eckerstrom, 89:15 (Yellow)
NOTES
• U-M is now 5-17-6 all-time against Penn State. It is the program's first win over Penn State since Oct. 4, 2002 (also U-M's last shutout win over PSU) and first-ever win at Jeffrey Field (1-8-4 all-time).
• Michigan is 1-0-2 in its last three meetings with Penn State. The Wolverines have a three-match unbeaten streak against the Nittany Lions, a first for the program.
• Since losing its first road match on Sept. 15 at Butler, Michigan has won its last four on the road, all against Big Ten opponents (Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State). It is the third time in program history that Michigan has won its first four conference road matches (others: 2000, 2004).
• Michigan is now 4-0-1 against ranked teams this season. The last time U-M beat a team ranked No. 11 or better was Sept. 19, 2004, against No. 11 Illinois (1-0).
• The Wolverines are 5-2 in one-goal matches this season.
• This is Michigan's first 1-0 victory this season. It has scored multiple goals in its nine other victories.
• Keyana Thompson-Shaw made her fifth career start. It is her second appearance in a match this season and first start. Three of her five career starts have come against Penn State, including two last season. She played all 90 minutes on Sunday.
• Tori McCombs became the 12th different player to score at least one goal this season and 16th different player to record at least one point.
• It is Taylor Bucklin's first shutout since Sept. 27 vs. Wisconsin. She tied a career best with seven saves (also set Sept. 27 vs. Wisconsin).
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Greg Ryan
On the win over Penn State ... "It's absolutely amazing. The girls are so proud and happy, and they should be. And I'm so proud of them. We knew coming in that it would take a consummate team effort to get a win against a very talented Penn State team, but our girls focused every second and never gave an inch. We knew Penn State was going to get chances. They missed a few sitters, and so did we. Tori's (McCombs) goal was a great goal. We knew we'd have that all day long. It was just a matter of getting someone on the right end. She buried it."
On what the win means for the seniors ... "We have a fantastic senior class. Obviously, most are starters and key contributors for us. Nkem (Ezurike) assisted on Tori's goal. Those are two seniors, but they have put in so much work for Michigan. Holly (Heim), Shelina (Zadorsky) and Kayla (Mannino) were fantastic on the back line. (Meghan) Toohey in the midfield was outstanding. We couldn't have done it without this class reaching the level of maturity that they have. I'm so proud and happy that they can add this win to their legacy. Hopefully a little bit more is coming before it's all said and done."
On starting Keyana Thompson-Shaw and the defense ... "Keyana is probably the best individual defender on our team. It's hard to practice with her on the second team because she's so dominant in terms of individual defending. We felt we needed to have her out there to help give cover to Maya Hayes. The whole back line did a great job of holding their good attacking players and shutting down chances. They had two or three good chances, and we're fortunate they missed. We gave them a lot of shots from distance today. And Taylor (Bucklin) again, a freshman playing in a game of that stature, to come out and get a shutout says a lot. She's so steady behind that back line. She made it all look easy today."
On the final five matches of Big Ten play ... "We talked about it. We said that if we wanted to really have a chance of staying in the race for a Big Ten championship, we needed a great result here today. This win gives us the opportunity to play our next game. That's how we have to take it, one at a time, and if you do that, at the end of the day, maybe someone stumbles, and you're in there. It gives us a real chance. Five games is a lot of games left, but this group has found themselves. In terms of how you're playing, we have the grit, intensity and those intangibles that make up winning teams. If we didn't have that, we would have gotten crushed today. But this team plays for each other and has great team chemistry. We stayed focused every second, and that effort brought it home."
U-M Senior Tori McCombs
On coming through with her first goal of the season ... "It felt good. I actually had a meeting with Angie (Napoli) on Wednesday. I was really stressed and felt I hadn't been contributing to the team. She basically told me to stop thinking about it, that I was really helping in other aspects of the game like work rate and speed of play. I think I finally stopped caring, and that's what happened. I was in the right spot. I read the ball across and made a play on it. It just so happened to come in one of our biggest matches."
On the win ... "This win means so much more to this program. Players like Haley Kopmeyer, Clare Stachel and Sarah Stanczyk weren't able to do it. This win is for everyone. We know what we're capable of. Greg told us to enjoy it, to not think of the future or the past. We'll focus on the next game on Tuesday. It's an incredible feeling."
U-M Freshman Taylor Bucklin
On the win ... "It's really awesome to come on this field and make history. And to get the shutout. The back line played awesome. I'm just so happy for this team."
On the mentality of the defense down the stretch ... "The last 15-20 minutes or so of a one-goal game are always hectic, but I thought we did a great job clearing the ball out, being safe and holding the ball up top. We worked out butts off today."
U-M Senior Meghan Toohey
On the win ... "It means everything. Year after year, this game has been so hard and so long. Seems that every year, we don't catch that break. Last year, we were up 1-0 both times and got unlucky. To finally win is an unreal feeling. We're showing what our potential can be. We know we can do anything, and winning this game is a big determining factor of just where we can go. I couldn't be happier, senior year, winning on that field after four tries. It's unbelievable."
On if the history of the win has sunk in yet ... "We talked about it before. We knew Michigan had never won in Happy Valley. We've had four ties, and two of those ties came last year. I think we can feel it, but I think over the next few days, it'll really sink in and show that this year can be our year if we hammer away."
Team Stats
MCCOMBS, Tori (1)
Assisted By: EZURIKE, Nkem
22 crossed to 8, shot from point blank
66:38
