Sept. 26, 2007
University Park, Pa. - Lock Haven jumped out to a 2-0 lead with two goals in the first 20 minutes of the first half but Penn State came back to score four straight goals over another 20 minute span toward the end of the first half and beginning of the second half as the Nittany Lions rallied for a 4-3 win over the Lady Eagles on Wednesday night to snap their two-game losing streak. The win improves Penn State to 6-4 on the year and give the Nittany Lions three straight wins over Lock Haven since the long-time series between the two schools located 30 minutes apart on Route 220 was renewed in 2005.
Alison Scola led the way for the Penn State offense with a goal, which was the game-tying score, and an assist. Mallory Weisen, Britney Long and Amy Bonenberger also added goals for the Nittany Lions, who outshot Lock Haven by just one, 11-10. Penn State's three second-half goals came in just under a seven-minute span that saw the Nittany Lions go from trailing 2-1 to leading 4-2.
The Lady Eagles began the scoring just under 11 minutes into the contest as Megan Albert tipped in a goal from the weak side of the cage at the 10:53 mark following a penalty corner. Blair Wynne's shot off the penalty corner went off the left post and rebounded right to Megan Bullock on the strong side, who passed across the cage to Albert on the weak side, who finished as she got behind Penn State keeper Jen Beaumont.
Lock Haven made it a 2-0 advantage at the 19:41 mark, once again taking advantage of the second shot following a penalty corner. Wynne's first shot off the corner was saved by Beaumont but the rebound came right back to Wynne, who was just to the left of the goal inside the circle. She dribbled to her right and from just to the right of the cage, unleashed a one-timer that found the lower right corner of the goal.
Penn State finally broke a two-game scoring drought that had stretched over the last two games and for a total of 194:50 just before the end of the first half as sophomore Amy Bonenberger scored her first career goal at the 33:11 mark. She took the ball and dribbled down the left sideline and all the way into the circle before beating Lock Haven keeper Ali Harris to the lower right corner of the cage to cut the lead to 2-1 at the half.
Britney Long scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season in the win over Lock Haven. |
After an uneventful first seven minutes of the second half, the Nittany Lions picked up some steam as Beaumont made a nice save on a Lock Haven shot and then Penn State blocked another before Scola came out and intercepted a pass off a Lock Haven penalty corner. A minute later, Penn State was awarded a penalty corner and after Kiersten Wood's initial shot off the corner was saved by Harris, Scola had the rebounded kick right to her in front of the goal just to the left and she put back that rebound into the lower right corner of the goal to tie the game 2-2 at 46:09.
Just 2:24 later at the 48:33 mark, Penn State took advantage of another penalty corner opportunity as Weisen knocked in her fourth goal of the year off the corner to put Penn State up for good, 3-2 at the time. It turned out to be her team-leading third game-winning goal of the year when all was said and done.
The Nittany Lions added what would turn out to be an important insurance goal at the 52:57 mark as they converted on a play similar to Lock Haven's first goal of the night way back in the 11th minute and at the same goal. On a penalty corner, Jen Long took her first shot of the year and it was saved by Harris but the rebound came out to Shaun Banta, who was standing in front of the cage just to the left. She quickly poked the ball over to Britney Long on the weak side of the goal, who tipped it in for her team-leading seventh goal of the year and a 4-2 Penn State lead.
That goal would turn out to be important as the Lady Eagles mounted a furious attack in the final minute of the second half. After getting off two straight shots that were saved by Beaumont with less than a minute to play, they were awarded a penalty corner and converted as Suzann Hobart tipped in Wynne's shot to cut the lead to 4-3. The ball came back onto Lock Haven's offensive end after the restart but Penn State cleared the ball down field with under 10 second to play to seal the win.
Beaumont made five saves for the Nittany Lions, who also had sizeable advantage in the penalty corner department, generating 14 corners to just five for Lock Haven. However, both teams were efficient with their corners, as all three Lock Haven goals and three of Penn State's four goals were all directly off of or following penalty corners.
Penn State will next play on Sunday at noon on AstroTurf Field as it hosts Northwestern in its Big Ten home opener.