Sept. 2, 2007
University Park, Pa. - A Penn State field hockey record crowd of 770 cheered eagerly with every Penn State offensive attack on Sunday but in the end, the Nittany Lions fell victim to a couple of UConn offensive attacks as the No. 5 Huskies topped the No. 7 Nittany Lions 3-1 on Sunday afternoon. In a game that featured only 13 combined shots for both team, the Huskies capitalized on three of their five total shots while Penn State was only able to finish on one of its eight.
UConn scored the first three goals of the game, one in the first half and two in the second half, before Penn State added a late score to account for the final score. At the 21:14 mark, Lizzy Peijs knocked in a ball in front of the cage following a short scrum with lots of players, both offensive and defensive, trying to get their sticks on the ball in front of the cage. It remained 1-0 at halftime as UConn goalkeeper Andrea Mainiero made three first half saves and Penn State's four first half shots, including a wicked one-timer high off the stick of Shaun Banta in transition from just inside the circle on the right side just before halftime.
The Huskies had only three shots in the second half but converted on two of them, both late in the second half. At the 56:04 mark, Jennifer Kleinhans scored to make it 2-0 off an assist from Kristin Galuski after several UConn players passed the ball around the circle sharply following a penalty corner. It was 3-0 after Lindsey Leck unleashed a one-timer in transition from just left of the middle of the semicircle to beat Penn State keeper Jen Beaumont to her lower right.
Penn State turned up the offensive pressure in the last five minutes of the game following Leck's goal at the 65:32 mark and it resulted in the only Nittany Lion goal of the game as Shaun Banta eventually put back a ball following an initial shot off a penalty corner. Mallory Weisen's initial shot off the corner was saved by Mainiero but the rebound went right to Jenny Purvis just to the left of the goal. Purvis kept the play alive as she quickly tapped the ball to Banta, who was in front of the goal and finished as Mainiero had closed in on Purvis before she passed the ball. Purvis was credited with an assist in her first collegiate game.
Penn State will continue its tough early-season schedule by traveling to Princeton on Wednesday night for a 6:00 p.m. game. The Tigers are currently ranked No. 18, although a new poll will come out prior to the game on Wednesday. The next home game for the Nittany Lions will be on Friday at 6:00 p.m. against James Madison.