Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Penn State
Resilient Northwestern Surges Past Penn State, 3-2
10/9/2009 12:00:00β―AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 9, 2009
Box Score
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- In a game in which Penn State twice rallied to tie Northwestern, the 18th-ranked Wildcats received a go-ahead goal in the 53rd minute from Chelsea Armstrong and hung on for a 3-2 victory Friday evening at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex. After defeating the defending Big Ten regular season champions for its first conference win of the year, NU is now 12-4 under first-year head coach Tracey Fuchs.
"This was a great win for everybody on our team from top to bottom and I couldn't be prouder of our players," Fuchs said. "To go on the road and win in the Big Ten is always a challenge but I thought we just showed how hungry we were to win tonight."
Northwestern, which before Friday was without a win over Penn State since 1997, dominated the pace of play in the first half and outshot the Nittany Lions 10-3 through the first 35 minutes. Just when it appeared that the home team would manage to escape the first half unscathed, NU junior Zoe Almquist got her stick to a penalty corner hit by Armstrong and deflected the ball past Ali Meves for the game's first goal.
NU's strong play in the first half is nothing new this season: the Wildcats own a combined 28-9 first-half scoring advantage over their opponents in 2009 and are now 10-0 when leading at the intermission.
Despite its sub-.500 record, Penn State came into the contest brimming with confidence following back-to-back victories over teams ranked in the top 20 of the Kookaburra/NFHCA Coaches Poll. The Nittany Lions clawed back into Friday's game with a goal less than two minutes into the second half by Christine Dudek when she tipped in a shot up over the shoulder of NU goalkeeper Amanda Wirth.
Only one minute later, Northwestern seized the lead right back off another penalty corner goal. This time it was senior Courtney Plaster-Strange who unleashed a hit that Kaylee Pohlmeyer was able to tip in for her seventh goal of the season.
The back-and-forth nature of the game continued and eventually resulted in Penn State finding an equalizer in the 45th minute as Hannah Allison converted her penalty corner shot for her fourth goal of the year.
With tension mounting, Armstrong took it upon herself to regain the lead for NU. Armstrong created space on the left side of the arc and beat Meves--the Big Ten's leader in saves entering the weekend--to the near post. It was Armstrong's Big Ten-leading 21st goal of her rookie campaign, moving her into a tie for third with Candice Cooper on NU's list for most goals in a single season.
The 'Cats hung tough to earn the win despite the fast, physical nature of the game: a total of six cards (five yellow) were doled out Friday night.
Northwestern will try to win its fourth game in a row on Saturday, Oct. 17, when it travels to Indiana in a game that will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
