NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Claire Beno (So., Perkasie, Pa.) scored three times to collect Player of the Game honors as Mid-Atlantic Division Champion/No. 12-ranked Pennsylvania State University edged Texas Division runner-up/No. 18 the University of Texas, 5-4, in a 13th/15th Place game at the 2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Notre Dame at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
- Penn State never trailed in the game as Beno beat Texas goalie Kaylee Champion (So,, Pearland, Texas) with 1:52 left in the first quarter. The Longhorns, who made the tournament field as the runner-up from the Texas Division after champion Texas A&M University elected not to attend, pulled even 20 seconds later as Anna Lang (So., Houston, Texas) stuck a shot by PSU netminder Rebecka Hart (Fr., Reading, Pa.) at 1:32 to make it one-all.
- Devon Van Rensburg (So., Johannesburg, South Africa) returned the lead for good to Penn State 21 seconds into the second quarter as she drove a ball into the twine at 6:39 to provide the Nittany Lions with a 2-1 advantage on the scoreboard after 14 minutes of action.
- The margin grew to 5-1 in the third quarter as Beno buried back-to-back shots at 5:26 and 4:44 before Sofia Viebranz (Jr., Erie, Pa.) cashed in on a five-meter penalty shot with 3:28 remaining on the clock.
- Trailing 5-2 with seven minutes left entering the fourth quarter, Texas gored Penn State as Tracy Burkhard (Gr., Laguna Hills, Calif.), Lauren Silvestri (Fr., League City, Texas) and Lang for back-to-back-to-back even-strength strikes at 5:54, 2:41 and five seconds, respectively, to shrink the Longhorns’ final deficit down to one at 5-4 as time expired.
- Viebranz and Van Rensburg both netted single goals to join Beno in the scoring column for PSU.
- Lang notched a pair for Texas with Silvestri and Burkhard both accounting for single tallies.
- Burkhard earned the win from between the pipes with 12 saves, while Champion took the loss with nine stops for the Longhorns.
- Since 2002, Texas has now finished 10th (2009), 11th (2011, 2012), 12th (2002), 13th (2007, 2016) and 15th (2019) at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
- In terms of placement, Penn State finishes in a tie for 13th place with the victor of the other 13th/15th place game featuring Atlantic Division Champion the University of Virginia and New York Division runner-up Cornell University. Texas ties the loser of the Wahoos-Big Red clash for 15th place as the 13th and 15th place positions are not played out due to time constraints on the final day of the championship tournament.
- The 13th place mark continues a trend of finishes outside the Top 10 for the Nittany Lions as Penn State previously placed Seventh (2017), 10th (2001, 2018) and 11th (2005, 2011, 2017) in the program’s previous trips to the National Collegiate Club Championship.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Pennsylvania State University | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | 5 |
| University of Texas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | – | 4 |
| Texas Goals: | Anna Lang (2); Lauren Silvestri; Tracy Burkhard | |||||
| Penn State Goals: | Claire Beno (3); Sofia Viebranz; Devon Van Rensburg | |||||
| Saves: | Texas – Kaylee Champion (9) ; Penn State – Rebecka Hart (12) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Texas – 2 ; Penn State – 3 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Texas – 0-for-3 ; Penn State – 1-for-2 | |||||
| Sprints: | Texas – 2-for-4 (2nd, 3rd) ; Penn State – 2-for-4 (1st, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Gregg Emde; Tim Watson | |||||
University of Texas goalie Kaylee Champion (#1) goes up to block a shot by Pennsylvania State University’s Maddy Ulrich (#12) as Tracy Burkhard (#4) pursues
Pennsylvania State University’s Ashley Southwick (#16) looks for an opening as the University of Texas’ Anna Lang (#15) defends
Pennsylvania State University’s Maddy Ulrich (#12) unloads a shot as the University of Texas’ Stephanie Reyes (#9) arrives too late
