| Kiersten Wood scored and recorded an assist vs. the Huskies, her first of both on the year. |
Box Score
STATE COLLEGE, Pa., September 4, 2005 - Penn State dominated the first half vs. Connecticut on Sunday and the Nittany Lion field hockey team downed the Huskies, 3-1, in front of 678 at Astroturf Field.
Penn State (3-1) controlled much of the game, out-shooting the Huskies, 11 to eight and tallying nine penalty corners to UConn's six. More importantly, however, the Nittany Lions struck first, scoring just over 10 minutes into the game when Natalie Berrena (State College, Pa.) took a pass from Annelise Legel (Morgantown, Pa.) and fired a quick shot for the score. At the 21:02 mark, Britney Long (Lancaster, Pa.) scored her first career goal to put the Nittany Lions up, 2-0, off an assist from last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Kiersten Wood (Lititz, Pa.).
Connecticut (2-1) regrouped in the second half, however, and tested the Nittany Lions' defense with six shots in the period. In the 48th minute, Kristin Galuski tipped the ball in off an outside cross from Rebecca Helwig to cut the lead to 2-1. Penn State gave itself a cushion when Wood scored off a penalty corner play. Legel and freshman Jen Long (Doylestown, Pa.) were both credited with an assist on the play with Legel performing the push-out and Long acting as the stick-stopper on Wood's score.
The Nittany Lions benefited from an extra player as Helwig was first penalized with a yellow card and then ejected at the 59:11 mark with her second yellow card of the day, giving Penn State an 11-player-to-10 advantage over the last 11 minutes.
Once again senior goalkeeper Megan Akstin (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) performed well in the cage. She had five saves, including one incredible swat at a high shot late in the game from UConn. The Huskies' goalie, Melissa Bostwick, also tallied five saves.
Next up for the Nittany Lions is a Wednesday contest at Princeton. The team returns home to take on Villanova on Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. and Saint Joseph's at noon on Sept. 11. Admission to all games is free.
For more information on Penn State field hockey and Nittany Lion athletics, visit www.GoPSUsports.com.