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Portland Thorns’ 2021 draftees have been heating up recently. Sam Coffey has scored eight goals and registered five assists for the Penn State Nittany Lions and Amirah Ali has notched five goals and five assists.
Coffey’s Nittany Lions struggled at the start of conference play. The Nittany Lions were dealt their third consecutive loss on September 26 when Ohio State came to Jeffery Field and upset PSU 1-0.
Penn State quickly responded with a statement win. Coffey and her Nittany Lions traveled to Madison to take on #18 Wisconsin. The Badgers took an early lead in the 13th minute and it looked like PSU were in for another rough night. Coffey got the team back in the game with a blistering strike in the 31st minute.
Coffey lined up over the ball and struck a free kick into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1. The strike was featured on SportsCenter as a Top Play the next morning. The Nittany Lions scored a late game-winner in the 81st minute to secure a much needed result.
Sammy C’s free kick goal against Wisconsin checked in at number 9 on the SportsCenter Top 10! pic.twitter.com/jEEm4dgd1x
— Penn State Women’s Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) October 2, 2021
The win against the ranked Wisconsin Badgers looked like it would be a potential turning point in the Nittany Lions’ fortunes but that hope was soon dashed by Minnesota. PSU traveled from Wisconsin to Minneapolis and were greeted with a 4-1 thrashing. The Golden Gophers were clinical, scoring four times with five shots on target.
Sam Coffey: Embracing the Unexpected
— Stumptown Footy (@StumptownFooty) October 8, 2021
"I think those tend to be some of life’s most special experiences - the ones that you don’t see coming." #BAONPDX https://t.co/JERAwgvDyM
The Nittany Lions rebounded at home against Maryland, dominating the Terrapins 5-1 courtesy of a Coffey masterclass. The midfielder opened the scoring in the 19th minute. She fired her shot across goal and into the bottom corner. The Terrapins equalized less than a minute later.
Coffey gave PSU the lead in the 28th minute and then doubled the lead in the 40th minute to complete a first half hat trick. She assisted Rachel Wasserman in the 47th minute to make it 4-1 before Ally Schlegel completed the rout with a goal in the 53rd minute. The Thorns draftee was awarded her second career B1G Offensive Player of the Week honor.
With @sscofff's second goal of the night, she became just the 50th player in NCAA Division 1 history to record 40 goals and 40 assists.
— Penn State Women’s Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) October 8, 2021
Coffey now has 41 goals and 50 assists in her career.
*Via NCAA Division 1 Soccer Record Book pic.twitter.com/UyIjW7sx2f
Sammy C knows a thing or two about scoring goals and tallying up assists.
— Penn State Women’s Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) October 12, 2021
More on @sscofff Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week award here>>>https://t.co/Ph9P9NrVRL#WeAre pic.twitter.com/I3xwUFQ9wg
The Nittany Lions made it two wins in a row at home against Indiana on Oct. 13. PSU defeated IU 3-0 courtesy of a Coffey penalty kick goal sandwiched in between a Jordan Canniff brace.
Ali and the Scarlet Knights continue to dominate conference play and are now 7-0 in the Big Ten. Rutgers closed out September with a 1-0 win against Nebraska and a 2-1 win in Minnesota.
Ali assisted Frankie Tagliaferri to open the scoring against the Golden Gophers. The forward turned past her defender and played a nice ball into the penalty area that Tagliaferri poked home. Minnesota equalized in the 30th minute but Rutgers’ Allison Lynch scored the winner in the 50th minute.
Career Games Played
— Rutgers Women's Soccer (@RUWSoccer) September 30, 2021
Career points scored
Frankie Tagliaferri, in her 100th career game, scores early and brings her career points total to 100! #RUWS leads, 1-0! pic.twitter.com/76XNJbjxoi
The Scarlet Knights traveled to Columbus, OH to start October and came back from a goal down to win 2-1. Three days later Rutgers and Michigan played their rescheduled match in Piscataway, NJ. Rutgers scored in the 26th and 55th minute and Michigan notched in the 35th minute before Ali found the back of the net. She stepped up to take a penalty kick and sent the keeper the wrong way to make it 3-1. The Scarlet Knights would add another goal late to defeat the Wolverines 4-1.
GOOAALL! Amirah Ali extends the #RUWS lead to 3-1 with a perfectly placed PK! pic.twitter.com/C2p5xodxAQ
— Rutgers Women's Soccer (@RUWSoccer) October 6, 2021
Rutgers continued their good form with a 1-0 win against Iowa before their most recent 5-2 drumming of Maryland. Ali was played through by Riley Tiernan and finished expertly to open the scoring. Rutgers doubled the lead from the spot before Maryland made it 2-1. The Scarlet Knights scored three unanswered goals before the Terrapins finally pulled another goal back in the 63rd minute.
GOOOALLL! Amirah Ali scores early to give #RUWS a 1-0 lead! Riley Tiernan with the assist!! pic.twitter.com/nBvOI3GmlS
— Rutgers Women's Soccer (@RUWSoccer) October 14, 2021
Both Coffey and Ali and their respective teams have three regular season matches remaining. Penn State hosts #19 Purdue on Sunday, Oct. 17 before traveling to Michigan to play the Wolverines and the Spartans. The Scarlet Knights play Michigan State at home on Oct. 17 before traveling to Bloomington to face Indiana and Champaign to play Illinois.
The Big Ten Tournament will take place October 29-31 after the conclusion of the regular season.