Nov. 15, 2002

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - 2001 National Player of the Year Christie Welsh scored twice in the span of 39 seconds early in the first half to lift the No. 12 Penn State Nittany Lions to a 2-0 victory over Princeton in the NCAA Women's Soccer first round at Maryland's Ludwig Field.

The Nittany Lions (16-3-1 overall) advanced to the second round for the fifth year in a row and will take on the winner of the Maryland/American match. Penn State has now won nine of its last 10 games this season.

Welsh got Penn State on the board as she blasted home a hard shot from just outside the box and beat Princeton keeper Jean Poster just 12:51 into the match. Junior Stephanie Smith set up the play and was credited with her first assist of the season on Welsh's 12th goal of the year.

Welsh then came back for more as she scored 39 seconds later at the 13:30 mark as she took a pass from Heidi Drummond and lobbed a chip shot over Poster from about 10 yards out for the 2-0 lead.

Penn State dominated the first half as they outshot Princeton, 14-0. Poster made three saves in the first half and finished with five saves.

Princeton (13-3-1 overall) allowed more than one goal in a game for the first time this season, as the Tigers came into the match with a team goals against average of 0.56, sixth best in the nation. The Tigers finished the year by going 1-3-1 in its last five games after beginning the year with 12 wins in a row.