Northwestern
(7-2, 2-0B1G)
Penn State
(8-1, 1-1B1G)
Second Half Outburst Leads No. 11 'Cats By No. 4 Penn State, 5-3
9/23/2016 5:50:00 PM | Field Hockey
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Unbeaten no more. No. 11 Northwestern scored five times in the second half, including three times in a three-minute span early in the period in taking down fourth-ranked and previously undefeated Penn State 5-3 Friday afternoon at Lakeside Field.
Puck Pentenga posted a goal and two assists in helping the Wildcats (7-2, 2-0 B1G) remain atop the Big Ten standings.
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, NU got goals from Dominique Masters, Pentenga and Saar de Breij over a stretch of 174 seconds early in the second period to take a two-goal lead. Penn State got back within 3-2, but goals from Pascale Massey and Eva van Agt helped the Wildcats seal the win.
The two teams battled back and forth during the opening stanza, but the Nittany Lions' ability to earn penalty corners eventually paid off at 32:15 when Shay Cannon scored in front off a scramble to put the visitors up 1-0. Penn State would take the one-goal lead into halftime after posting an 8-2 advantage in corners over the opening 35 minutes of play.
Northwestern didn't panic, though, and the Wildcats eventually cashed in at 39:05 when Masters tipped home a feed from Charlotte Vaziri past Jenny Rizzo to tie the game, 1-1. The tally got the 'Cats going as just over two minutes later Pentenga finished a loose ball in front and NU took a 2-1 advantage at the 41:13 mark. The floodgates officially opened when de Breij knocked one home off a pass from Pentenga just 46 seconds later and suddenly the hosts were ahead 3-1, forcing Penn State to burn its timeout.
The Nittany Lions turned up the pressure and got a goal back at 46:19 when Moira Putsch scored to get PSU within 3-2. Penn State continued to push forward in search of the tying goal but Northwestern was able to hold them off and eventually used its timeout to help settle things down.
The Wildcats used the counter attack to their advantage in notching a pair of key insurance goals. Massey was able to deflect in Pentenga's entry from the top of the circle at 54:22, giving NU its two-goal margin back. Northwestern appeared to add another tally when de Breij had an open cage but rang a shot off the post but Massey was there to knock it in. However, the tally was questionably taken off the board. The Wildcats did eventually extend the lead to three, though, when van Agt deflected in Isabel Flens' shot from the top of the circle off a penalty corner, making it 5-2 with 5:38 left.
Putsch scored her second of the game just under a minute later, but Northwestern held on the rest of the way for the key victory.
Northwestern finished with a 17-15 edge in shots while Penn State had an 11-5 edge in corners. Lindsay von der Luft came up with six saves to earn the win in goal.
The Wildcats return to action at noon Sunday when they host No. 6 Maryland at Lakeside Field.
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Team Stats
Shay Cannon (9)
Assisted By: Gini Bramley
finished in front off scramble
32:15
Masters, Dominique (7)
Assisted By: Vaziri, Charlotte
tipped in off entry
39:05
Pentenga, Puck (3)
loose ball in front
41:13
de Breij, Saar (3)
Assisted By: Pentenga, Puck
finished from left
41:59
Moira Putsch (8)
Assisted By: Aurelia Meijer
deflection in front
46:19
Massey, Pascale (2)
Assisted By: Pentenga, Puck
deflection off entry from top of circle
54:22
Flens, Isabel (7)
Assisted By: Pentenga, Puck , Gandhi, Lily
off penalty corner
64:22
Moira Putsch (9)
Assisted By: Gini Bramley
cross from 28
65:19
