Oct. 20, 2007
Iowa City, Iowa. - After Iowa and Penn State battled to a 1-1 tie in regulation, Iowa was awarded a penalty stroke in the first minute of the first overtime and Lauren Pfeiffer converted on the stroke to give the No. 5 Hawkeyes a 2-1 win over the No. 9 Nittany Lions. The game marks the second straight win for Iowa over Penn State off a penalty stroke, as the difference in last year's Big Ten Championship game was also a penalty stroke in a 2-1 Iowa win.
Iowa was awarded two penalty corners in the first minute of overtime and on the second one, a shot was deflected off the pads of Penn State goalkeeper Jen Beaumont and into the air. It was batted out of the air by Mallory Weisen in front of the cage and behind Beaumont but Weisen was called for making contact with the ball with her stick above her waist, leading to the stroke being awarded. Beaumont guessed right on the stroke but Pfeiffer's shot to Beaumont's right was just out of her reach at the 70:55 mark to end it.
The penalty stroke ended what was mainly a defensive struggle. Both teams had just one shot apiece in the first half. While both teams had a fair share of scoring opportunities in the second half, both teams were only able to convert one time apiece. Iowa outshot Penn State 10-5 in the game and 7-4 in the second half. Penn State also held Iowa well below its season average in penalty corners with six while generating five of its own.
Penn State kept the ball on its offensive side of the field for roughly all of the first eight minutes of the game but did not have any real scoring chances in that time span as it did not even get off a shot. The Hawkeyes then kept the ball on Penn State's side of the field for most of the next five minutes of the game but did not have any real scoring opportunities either. They were awarded the first penalty corner of the game just under the 22:00 mark and got off a shot but it was saved by Jen Beaumont.
Britney Long had Penn State's first chance of the game with just over 17 minutes remaining in the first half on a counter attack but her shot from just inside the right side of the circle went wide. That shot would be the only other shot of the half for either team as it was a draw for the entire first half.
There were no shots for either team in the first eight minutes of the second half until the Nittany Lions were awarded their first penalty corner, which produced a shot on goal by Bethany Marvel, but it was saved by Iowa keeper Lissa Munley.
It was on Iowa's second shot of the game that the Hawkeyes took the lead at the 48:41 mark. After Penn State had a free hit following the ball going over the endline, play quickly went back the other way toward the Penn State goal as the Hawkeyes took back possession shortly after the free hit. On the counter attack, Lindsey Duffy took a pass from Carolina Blaum in full stride and poked the ball past an oncoming Beaumont. Blaum had passed the ball forward to Duffy from just inside the top of the circle.
The Nittany Lions were able to take advantage of a sequence in which they were awarded two straight penalty corners to score the equalizer with just over 15 minutes left in the second half at the 54:22 mark. After a pass following the first penalty corner went off an Iowa foot in the circle, Penn State was awarded a second corner. On the second corner, Kiersten Wood took the pass from Allison Scola about a foot outside the circle just to the left of center, took one dribble in and then unleashed a one-timer that deflected off an Iowa stick and past Munley into the cage to tie the game 1-1.
Both teams had a few more opportunities in the remainder of regulation but neither were able to score. In the overtime, Iowa gained possession at the start and almost immediately generated a penalty corner. After a pass went off a Penn State foot on the first one, the Hawkeyes were awarded the second that eventually ended it.
Penn State drops to 10-6 overall with the setback, 2-3 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions will play their third game on the Big Ten Network next Friday when they host Ohio State at 6:00 p.m. on AstroTurf Field but prior to that will travel to Bucknell on Tuesday night for a 6:00 p.m. game.