The Penn State Berks women's soccer team won its third straight North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Championship after defeating Penn State Abington, 3-0, to earn another trip to the NCAA Regional Tournament.
The Nittany Lions (16-2-2) tallied the first goal of the game early in the first half and took some momentum into the intermission with a score in the 42nd minute of the opening period. Berks then built a comfortable lead with 6:17 into the second half and were able to drop back and play defensive.
Ellie McKinstry, who was named the Tournament MVP, beat the keeper to a loose ball outside of the box and was able to send a shot into the wide open net at the 6:50 mark. Brennan Moyer earned the assist after she sent a deep pass into Abington territory and the spin made the ball bounce away from the defenders.
Dana Sarcinello had a shot knocked out of bounds by the diving goalkeeper to give Berks a corner kick late in the first half. Alexa Lopez delivered a perfect insert that Lizzie Mummau was able to knock into the wide open far corner with just over three minutes left in the half.
Early in the second half, Abington was aggressive and able to spend most of its time on the offensive end of the field. With Abington attacking, Moyer was able to clear the ball out and deep into Abington territory where Berks had numbers. Mckinstry took a few touches before passing to Mummau who then beat the keeper line drive into far, back corner.
Berks had a 15-4 advantage on shots and held a 5-2 margin on corner kicks.
The suffocating play on defense by Caitlin Deibler, Moyer, Shelby Baker, and Paige Clawser did not allow a single shot on goal by Abington. Paige Elmy came out of goal to pick up a number of deep passes into the Berks territory.
Abington goalkeeper Samantha Friend finished with four saves, including two athletic diving stops.
The Nittany Lions then headed for the first round in the NCAA Selection Show, which took place on Monday, November 9, 2015.
