Forward Rebecca Cooke (27) trips over a Central Connecticut State player during the NCAA Tournament soccer game against Central Connecticut State at Jeffery Field on Friday Nov. 10, 2023 in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions won 7-0.
Forward Rebecca Cooke (27) trips over a Central Connecticut State player during the NCAA Tournament soccer game against Central Connecticut State at Jeffery Field on Friday Nov. 10, 2023 in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions won 7-0.
Amongst the many players that stood out on Saturday, Rebecca Cooke was the key player for the win.
In her second season at Penn State – playing for Quinnipiac University through her junior year–, Cooke has been one of the essential pieces for the successful season the blue and white is having.
The talented two-way player, however, wasn’t able to showcase that in the stats sheet during the previous games. Cooke’s only goal of the season had been in conference play in the 5-0 win against Maryland, on Oct 10.
The Dublin, Ireland, native had, arguably, her best game in the program during the first round of the NCAA tournament 8-1 win against Stony Brook this Saturday. In the game, Cooke scored two goals and her first assist of the season.
“I feel like we did a lot in practice this week, and a lot of it translated into the game today,” Cooke said. “It was bittersweet coming out of the Big 10 tournament, but it gave us a long stretch to practice together and really gear up for this game against Stony Brook.”
During the game, Cooke took on a position that she hasn’t been highlighted for previously in the season: center forward. With that change, she was able to display her offensive power more.
The graduate student’s presence was first put into the spotlight when she assisted redshirt junior Julia Raich’s goal in the first half.
“These upperclassmen have taken (the underclassmen) under their wing. They’ve made them feel like family. They’ve made them feel comfortable. We talk about that a lot with our young players, ‘It’s hard, right’,” coach Erica Dambach said. “This is a tough environment, and the quicker that the upperclassmen bring them in, the more comfortable they feel. I think tonight was a great example. Full credit to this senior class and the work that they’ve put in with these guys.”
Also in the first half, Cooke found herself face-to-face with Stony Brook’s netminder to further the Nittany Lions’ lead to 4-0. This time, Raich was the one to give the assist.
Into the second half, Cooke worked on pressuring Stony Brook’s goaltender into conceding the ball. The graduate student’s efforts prevented Nicollete Pasquarella from starting plays for the opposing team from the back of the field, having to throw long balls toward her teammates.
In the 25th minute, Cooke found the back of the net for the second time that night, in one of the blue and white’s most interesting goals of the season.
https://x.com/PennStateWSOC/status/1857946677501472840
The forward dominated the ball through the air, got it over the goaltender and struck it past the goal line. The brace goal made the game 6-1.
“I think that’s just literally playing like you play in practice, and often they don’t come off in the game. So I just took a chance,” Cooke said. “On Jeffrey tonight, my mentality was just playing like you were when you were a kid.”
Cooke led the team in shots with seven – at least two more than any other player in the Nittany Lions.
The forward will be an essential pawn to find the win during the second-round matchup against TCU on Friday in Tallahassee, Florida.
“One of the strengths of this team is the depth. These guys committed themselves all summer to get themselves fit, and our availability is fantastic right now,” Dambach said. “I think they are coming into their stride, and it’s exactly what you want in November. We’re going to use our depth, we’re going to run players through and we’ve got a lot of players in this group that we can trust and can put in some world-quality minutes for us.”
MORE SOCCER CONTENT
Penn State defeated Stony Brook in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on a night filled …
If you’re interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.
We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:
