Penn State falls in College Cup shootout against Portland

Dec. 3, 2005

College Cup: Portland 4, Penn State 3

In what proved to be the first scoreless match for either squad all year long, the battle between No. 1 seed/No. 1 Portland (23-0-1) and No. 1 seed/No. 3 Penn State (23-0-2) lived up to its billing, resulting in the Pilots advancing to the national championship game on penalty kicks. The only two undefeated teams heading into the College Cup, the pair played 110 minutes of thrilling but scoreless soccer before Portland used a 4-3 advantage in penalty kicks to move into the NCAA championships game. The draw will end an undefeated Penn State's historic season one game short of the national championship.

In what was billed as a feud of the forwards ended up to be a battle of the keepers with both squads' net-minders coming up big. The match pitted No. 1 Portland and the NCAA's No. 1 scorer this season, Christine Sinclair, versus No. 3 Penn State and the NCAA's No. 2 scorer, Tiffany Weimer (North Haven. Conn.). No matter how prolific the duo was coming in, neither could find the back of the net through two overtime periods. Full Story