MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – WVU women’s soccer could not channel the heat on a muggy Thursday night in its 2-1 loss to Penn State.

WVU had few answers early for PSU midfielder Olivia Borgen, who found herself free in the WVU zone multiple times in the first half. Borgen recorded two shots on goal, one of which found the back of the net for a 1-0 Nittany Lion lead in the 15th minute.

The Mountaineers went into halftime with a 1-0 deficit, but a 3-2 lead in the shots department. They also thwarted two PSU corner kicks in the first half.

PSU held the edge until the 53rd minute when WVU Taylor White corralled a cross-field missile from forward Dilary Heredia-Beltran perfectly in-stride before making a defender miss and delivering the equalizer at 1-1.

The next best scoring chance for WVU came in the 73rd minute when WVU forward Chloe Adler fired a ball from just outside the box that flew beyond PSU goalkeeper Katherine Asman’s outstretched arm and hit off the crossbar.

Just when things looked to be heading toward a stalemate, the Nittany Lions exploited a weakness in the WVU defense for a game-winning goal from PSU forward Kaitlyn MacBean in the 85th minute.

WVU falls to 1-2 on the season. The Mountaineers return to action Sunday at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium against Duquesne.