DURHAM, N.C.; Sept. 7, 2014 - No. 7 Penn State women’s soccer never relinquished its lead against Duke to win 4-3 on Sunday at the Duke Nike Classic.

The Nittany Lions (4-1-0) split the Duke Nike Classic after a 1-0 double overtime loss to North Carolina on Friday, and put three players on the all-tournament team: Emily Hurd, Salina Williford and Frannie Crouse.

In the 17th minute, Emily Hurd (Sammamish, Wash.) opened scoring with a gritty play. Coming down left side, the senior squeezed between the nearside post and a Blue Devil defender. She then tapped the ball towards the net, which deflected off of the Duke player for the 1-0 lead.

But just under four minutes later, Duke was able to knot the score. At 21:33, Kelly Cobb sent a bending shot towards Penn State’s goal and the ball sailed under the crossbar and just out of Britt Eckerstrom’s (Germantown, Md.) grasp for the 1-1 score.

The Nittany Lions regained their lead at the 31-minute mark. Katy Keen (Zionsville, Ind.) sent a diagonal volley to Mallory Weber (Novi, Mich.) at the farside post, who then knocked it past the Blue Devil goalkeeper for the 2-1 score.

At 53:45, Duke was able to get the equalizer. Rebecca Quinn took a low touch through the right side to knot the score, 2-2.

In the 55th minute, under three minutes later, Penn State regained its lead in hard-fought fashion. Hurd sent a cross to Frannie Crouse (Greensburg, Pa.) in front of the net and the freshman collected the hopping rebound for the 3-2 lead.

The Blue Devils, however, knotted the score, 3-3, in the 68th minute. On a penalty shot, Christina Gibbons lobbed the ball to the low right corner.

As was true the entire game, Penn State answered back, this time in the 83rd minute with a game-winner from Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica). Crouse beat two Blue Devil defenders and slipped it to Hurd at the far top corner of the 18-yard box. Hurd then kicked it a few feet to her right to Rodriguez, who rocketed it in the net for the 4-3 score.

The Nittany Lions open Big Ten play next weekend in Indiana, facing Purdue at 7 p.m. on Fri., Sept. 12, and Indiana on Sun., Sept. 14 at 1 p.m.

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