Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Ohio State
Wildcats Clipped by Buckeyes on Senior Day, 2-1
10/31/2009 12:00:00β―AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 31, 2009
Box Score
2009 Big Ten Tournament Bracket
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Chelsea Armstrong put No. 20 Northwestern on the scoreboard first with her 22nd goal of the season in the game's eighth minute, but No. 13 Ohio State answered with two first-half tallies and held on to defeat the 'Cats 2-1 Saturday in Evanston. NU concludes its regular season with 12 victories--the most since 1995--and will face Indiana at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Northwestern's loss on Saturday was its third consecutive Big Ten defeat by one goal.
Before the contest, Northwestern honored its six graduating seniors--Courtney Coburn, Elizabeth Dobbs, Alyssa Elmy, Stephanie Fortson, Courtney Plaster-Strange and Jill Putnam--who were playing their final home game at Lakeside Field.
Northwestern unquestionably had the better of play in the early going, earning back-to-back penalty corners and keeping the ball in its offensive end of the field for the majority of the first 10 minutes. The pressure paid off when Armstrong stripped a Buckeye defender of the ball, carried across the top of the arc and fired a shot off the pads of OSU goalkeeper Ally Tunitis and in to put NU ahead.
Armstrong's goal extended her Big Ten-leading total this season to 22, but Ohio State's leading goal-scorer, freshman Berta Queralt, had the answer just four minutes later. Queralt received the ball near midfield and carried on a breakaway all the way into the circle before unleashing a reverse shot past NU's Katie Lynch for her 16th goal of the year.
The action did not slow down there as Ohio State got on the board once again in the 20th minute. The Buckeyes drove a ball across the circle that deflected onto the stick of Maria Briones, who controlled a bouncing ball and slotted it past Lynch to give OSU a lead.
It was wide open offensively in the second half as well, with the Buckeyes outshooting NU 5-4 over the final 35 minutes. Sophomore Jaimie Orrico created the 'Cats' best chance of the half when she dribbled from outside the circle and beat two defenders before getting off a quality shot. Kendra Sirak followed with a shot on the rebound, but goaltender Lindsay Quintiliani turned away both efforts.
Ohio State looked as though it might gain an insurance goal in the final two minutes when it earned a penalty stroke following a corner. With NU freshman Amanda Wirth in the cage, Queralt stepped up to take the stroke and drilled her shot off the right upright, keeping NU's deficit at one.
But the Buckeyes held sturdy in the final 1:30 and secured the win.
NU's Big Ten Tournament date with Indiana on the campus of host Michigan State is a rematch of the Oct. 17 game in Bloomington when the Hoosiers captured a 2-1 victory.
