Box Score ABINGTON, Pa. - The Penn State Abington women's soccer team came out Saturday afternoon looking to start a new winning streak. With a strong all-around performance from the Lady Lions, the team was able to defeat SUNY IT by a score of 3-0 and get their second win in a row for the first time since the beginning of the season.
 
Having beaten the College of Saint Elizabeth this past Saturday, the Lady Lions (5-3, 3-1 NEAC) started fast today even off of the weeklong break. Just over ten minutes into the game, Penn State Abington opened up the scorebooks with a goal off of a corner kick. Having already earned their second corner of the game, senior Brittany Palmer sent the curling ball into the box. Freshman midfielder Desirae Holmes rose above her defender to get a head on the ball and send a strong header towards goal. The ball sailed just too high, however, and slapped off the crossbar, hovering once again just outside of the goal mouth. With everyone else starting at the ball, junior defender Alyssa Kaye jumped high above the rest, meeting the ball with her forehead and slamming it into the left side of the net. It was a 1-0 lead that the Lady Lions would not relinquish for the remainder of the match.
 
In fact, just 16 minutes later, Penn State Abington would add to their scoring. In the 27^th minute, sophomore Sam Whalen took hold of the ball along the right midfield. Whalen was able to dribble her way all the way down the right hand side until the top of the penalty box. After a Wildcat defender attempted to cut her off, Whalen simply cut back onto her left foot at the corner of the box. She immediately let loose with a brilliant, curling shot that found junior goalkeeper Ashley Campbell much too far off her line. The ball sailed over Campbell's outstretched fingertips and into the center of the net, giving the Lady Lions a 2-0 lead.
 
For the remainder of the game, SUNY IT (4-4, 3-1) did their best to hold off the Penn State Abington attack. In fact, in the second half, the Wildcats were able to open up some offense of their own. The visitors got off five of their six total shots and their only two corner kicks of the game in the second frame. However, sophomore goalkeeper Gabrielle Benedict held fast, making five saves on the night in her fine shutout effort. It looked like the scoreline would hold at 2-0 for the rest of the match, literally until the last second.
 
With the ball once again deep in the Wildcats half, a pass found the feet of freshman Cindy Wade. Wade, the goalscoring leader for the Lady Lions so far this year with 5, received the ball right in the middle of the penalty box with a lone defender on her back. She let loose with a shot that the onrushing Campbell managed to save, but Wave retrieved the rebound and, with one second left on the clock, put the ball into the back of the net one final time.
 
The win moves the Lady Lions up to a 5-3 record and into a tie for second in the NEAC conference. Penn State Abington gets right back on the field tomorrow afternoon for a chance to continue their excellent conference play. The Lady Lions face off against SUNY Cobleskill, who dropped a 9-0 decision earlier today at Penn State Berks. Gametime for Sunday is set for 2 p.m. at Germantown Academy. Keep checking in at abingtonsports.com for all your Lady Lions updates.