Mackenzie Gress’ sophomore season at Penn State ended in the NCAA Women’s Tournament quarterfinals when the Nittany Lions dropped a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker to North Carolina on Nov. 29.
And while the season ended short of the ultimate goal of a national title, it was a season to remember for the Lyndhurst native. Despite missing seven weeks in the middle of the season to play for Team USA in the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia, Gress quickly established herself as one of the top keepers in the Big Ten Conference and all of college soccer.
In four NCAA Tournament games, Gress made 16 saves, highlighted by the four she made to earn the shutout in a second round, 1-0 victory, over then No. 8 ranked TCU. Two days later, on Nov. 24, Gress made six saves in a 3-1 win over Vanderbilt. She added four more saves against North Carolina.
In 13 appearances, Gress, a first-year starter for the Nittany Lions, went 7-4-2, made 53 saves with four shutouts and a 1.11 goals against average. Only one of those appearances was a 4-0 victory over Texas Tech that saw Gress make two saves in 76 minutes to earn the win in her first collegiate start.
When Gress did return in early October, she didn’t miss a beat with her Penn State club. Gress, who only had one career start for Penn State before then, made four saves in a 1-1 tie against Rutgers, then earned her first career shutout on Oct. 10 at Maryland, the latter earning her B1G Goalkeeper of the Week honors by the conference.
Gress also earned clean sheets against UCLA on Oct. 17 and on Nov. 1 at Minnesota, where she also posted a career-high eight saves in the 1-0 victory over the Golden Gophers.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)