Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Ohio State
Wildcats Edged by No. 10 Buckeyes, 3-2
10/1/2005 12:00:00β―AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 1, 2005
Box Score
Ohio State 3, Northwestern 2
Download Free Acrobat Reader
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's field hockey team fell to No. 10 Ohio State 3-2 Saturday at the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex. The Wildcats held the nation's fourth-ranked offense scoreless through the first half, but the Buckeyes pulled away for the one-goal victory. Jill Putnam (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield) and Noreen Stewart (Farmington, Conn./Farmington) each scored for the 'Cats.
Northwestern came into the match knowing their defense would need to play its best in order to keep the Buckeyes off the board. Not only did they deliver, Northwestern's defense was the first unranked team to keep Ohio State scoreless in the first stanza this season--No. 2 Maryland and No. 11 Louisville were the only other teams to do so.
The Buckeyes had 10 shots -- six on-goal -- in the first half, but junior goalkeeper Sherri-Anne Nyberg (Kelowna, British Columbia/Kelowna Secondary) came up with one save after another to keep the game tied 0-0.
Towards the end of the first half Northwestern put the pressure on offensively, and kept Ohio State on their heels. The Wildcats got off five shots in the first half, but the teams went into the break tied at 0-0.
After the break, the Buckeyes broke the scoreless tie when they scored under two minutes into the second half off a penalty corner.
The Wildcats swung the momentum back in their favor a little over nine minutes later when Stewart scored her second goal of the year. Senior co-captain Christine Nannicelli (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) streaked down the sideline and played a perfect ball to Stewart, who was waiting deep inside the Buckeyes' circle. Stewart beat the Ohio State keeper left, tying the score at 1-1.
At 51:54, junior Meghan Small (Bethlehem, Pa./Moravian Academy) was given a yellow card, meaning Northwestern would have to play one player down for at least five minutes.
The Buckeyes took advantage two minutes later when they scored off another penalty corner.
Ohio State scored once more at 65:00 to make the score 3-1.
Putnam scored her team-leading eighth goal of the year, bringing the Wildcats to within one with a little less than three minutes to play.
Northwestern tried to muster one more goal, but Ohio State came away with the victory, 3-2.
"It was a good game, and I'm proud of my team," head coach Kelly McCollum said. "We took a big step forward from the Penn State game. Hopefully we'll learn from this and take another step forward at Iowa."
For the game, Ohio State outshot the Wildcats 26-10 and had an 18-6 advantage over Northwestern in penalty corners.
Nyberg finished with 12 saves, her third-highest total of the season.
With the loss, Northwestern falls to 6-4, 0-2 in the Big Ten. The 'Cats are back in action at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at Iowa.
