No. 14 Penn State Pulls Away Late to Top No. 12 Northwestern

4/23/2016 3:08:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The 12th-ranked Wildcats matched No. 14 Penn State stride for stride for the majority of Saturday's Big Ten matchup, but the Nittany Lions pulled away down the stretch for a 17-13 win.

Penn State improved to 11-4 on the season and 3-1 in conference while Northwestern moved to 7-8 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten.

From the outset, the 'Cats were locked into a wild back-and-forth affair. The Lions took the lead early before junior Danita Stroup tied it up at 26:27. Senior Nancy Dunbar handed the team an early 2-1 lead after she converted a free position opportunity less than one minute later.

Penn State responded with its own two-goal swing over the next two minutes of action to make it 3-2, but a two-minute penalty helped swing the momentum back in the Wildcats' favor. Shelby Fredericks capitalized on the man-advantage with a free position goal before freshman Leighton Yenor extended the lead, 4-3, with her sixth goal of the season. Danita Stroup opened the game up at 5-3 with her second goal of the game with 12:46 on the clock.

The home team closed the gap to 5-4, but junior Christina Esposito responded at 9:15 with her first goal of the day to maintain a two-goal cushion, 6-4. Penn State seemed to grab control of the match with a three-goal run at the end of the first half, but Esposito notched her second goal with just over a minute left to send the game into the halftime break leveled at 7-7.

Both teams traded blows at the start of the second half. Senior Kaleigh Craig scored her 37^th goal of the season at 28:09 to even the game at 8-8 and Esposito completed a hat trick at 23:52 to make it 9-9.

Penn State pushed out to a two-goal lead , 11-9, but the resilient 'Cats fought back once more. Sophomore Selena Lasota fired home her 33^rd of the season before Esposito found the net for the fourth time to tie the game at 11-11 with 19:31 left in regulation.

Northwestern fell behind again at 12-11, but pushed back even harder with a two-goal run to grab the lead. Nancy Dunbar scored her second of the day from a free position shot before Leighton Yenor added a second goal of her own with just 9:15 to go to hand the 'Cats a 13-12 lead.

Penn State tied it up one last time with 8:34 remaining and had a free position shot with just under eight minutes left to take its final lead of the day. Mallory Weisse denied another attempt with one of her 11 saves and helped the Wildcats clear before head coach Kelly Amonte-Hiller used a timeout with 7:22 left.

The game turned on its head with five minutes to go when Selena Lasota was whistled for her second yellow card and forced to leave the game. Penn State seized the man-advantage to go ahead 14-13, and held onto its lead the rest of the way.

Esposito lead the Wildcats with four goals, and Nancy Dunbar, Leighton Yenor and Danita Stroup all added two apiece. Selena Lasota, Shelby Fredericks and Kaleigh Craig contributed one goal each. Dunbar lead the team defensively with three forced turnovers.

Chicago's Big Ten Team is back in action on Friday at 4:00 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio, in a crucial conference matchup with Ohio State to close out its regular-season slate.