Penn State defeated Stony Brook in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on a night filled with many firsts from freshmen Bella Ayscue, Katie Scott and Aubrey Kulpa.
The freshman debuted their first tournament game on Saturday scoring half of the Nittany Lion's goals against the Seawolves.
“One of the strengths of this team is depth,” coach Erica Dambach said. “We’ve got a lot of players in this group that we can trust and can put in some real quality minutes for us, and that’s only going to help us.”
Ayscue marked her first career goal against the Seawolves in the first half. Amelia White sent the ball past Stony Brook's defender and allowed Ayscue to send the ball past the goalkeeper, advancing the blue and white to a 2-0 lead over Stony Brook.
“When I scored I was like, ‘Wow this is really happening’,” Ayscue said. “I’m just speechless, it’s hard to put into words.”
Ayscue has played in every game for Penn State this season — starting in eight of them — and has contributed five assists in her 818 minutes with the squad. Despite being a defender, Ayscue found herself with several offensive opportunities during the match.
Only a minute after the whistle blew, Ayscue made her way past the Seawolves' defenders and fired the ball, but was denied by Stony Brook goalkeeper Nicolette Pasquarella. In addition, the Apex, North Carolina, native took two other shots on goal but was unsuccessful.
Ayscue had two assists in the matchup, assisting both Kaitlyn MacBean and Scott’s goal.
“Getting the assist, I was just ecstatic,” Ayscue said.
Scott gained momentum during the second half. Assisted by Ayscue, she fired the ball to the top left of the net, moving the Nittany Lions to a 5-0 lead and securing her first career goal.
The freshman midfielder faced an injury during the early regular season, delaying her start with Penn State. Scott’s first match at Penn State was against Michigan where she contributed two assists.
The tournament match was Scott’s first game back with Penn State after playing with the U17 Women’s Youth National Team squad in the Women’s World Cup for the last month. Scott has played in eight games with the Nittany Lions, starting for the first time against Stony Brook.
“She’s playing back to where she was before the injury,” Dambach said. “You see her ticket and you see her flying up and down the flank, and that’s the Katie Scott we know and love.”
Kulpa was on fire in the second half, scoring two back-to-back goals within seconds of each other in the final minutes of the game. Her goals advanced the blue and white to its 8-1 victory over Stonybrook.
Kulpa has played in 20 games with Penn State this season scoring six goals, securing herself as the second-leading scorer for the Nittany Lions.
“What it means to me is that these upperclassmen have taken them under their wing,” Dambach said. “They’ve made them feel like family, they’ve made them feel comfortable.”
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