Nov. 10, 2007
College Park, Md. - In the first game this year between Penn State and Virginia way back on August 26 in the first weekend of the season, Virginia scored a first half goal and led 1-0 at halftime before Penn State rallied with three unanswered second-half goals for a 3-1 victory. On Saturday, in another matchup with the Cavaliers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the game was very similar to the first meeting as Penn State overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit with three second half goals before Virginia scored a late goal but the Nittany Lions held on for a narrow 3-2 victory at the Maryland Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex.
The win moves the Nittany Lions into the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year and for the second straight year, they will face the host Terrapins in the second round. Maryland topped Old Dominion 5-0 in the first game of the day. The teams will square off tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. with a trip to next weekend's final four on the line.
Penn State's top three goal scorers on the year led the way. Britney Long scored her team-leading 13th goal of the year to tie the game early in the second half. Mallory Weisen scored her 10th goal of the year to give the Nittany Lions the 2-1 lead while Banta netted her seventh goal of the season to give the Nittany Lions what would be a needed insurance goal.
The win not only sends Penn State to the second round for the second straight year, but it is also Penn State's second straight win over an ACC team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and it marks the second straight year that the Nittany Lions beat that specific ACC team twice in the season. The Nittany Lions topped North Carolina in the first round in College Park last year after also defeating the Tar Heels during the regular season.
Shaun Banta recorded a goal and an assist in Penn State's first round NCAA win. |
Three of the five goals scored in the game were either directly or indirectly off a penalty corner. Virginia scored first in the 24th minute as Traci Ragukas redirected a shot by Inge Kaars Sijpestein off the corner and in to the cage to put the Cavaliers up 1-0 at the 23:18 mark. It was also Ragukas who scored for Virginia in the first half of the first game between the teams back in August.
Virginia outshot the Nittany Lions 5-4 in the first half, with the majority of those shots coming in the latter part of the second half after Penn State had most of the scoring opportunities in the first part of the opening period.
It remained a 1-0 game until the sixth minute of the second half. After Jen Beaumont saved a shot on goal by Virginia on Penn State's end of the field, the Nittany Lions quickly pushed the ball the other way and on a breakaway opportunity, Banta pushed ahead a pass to a streaking Britney Long in the circle, who beat an oncoming UVA keeper Amy Desjadon to tie the game 1-1 at 40:52.
Once again, just as in the first game with Virginia, Penn State scored goals less than two minutes apart. Although last time it was Penn State's second and third goals that were scored just 1:12 apart, it was the first and second goals in this game as just 1:35 after Long's goal, Weisen scored off a penalty corner to put the Nittany Lions up 2-1. Her shot deflected off a Virginia defender and into the cage. Allison Scola and Jen Long, who did not play in the first half as she was slowed an injury, were credited with the assists. The helper was Long's team-leading 11th of the year while Scola's was her 10th. The goal turned out to be Weisen's team-leading seventh game-winning goal of the year.
Another penalty corner helped produce Penn State's third goal of the game as Weisen's initial shot off the corner was saved by a new UVA keeper, Devon Burnley but Banta was in front of the cage waiting for the rebound and she pounced on it and put it back into the cage at the 55:34 mark to make it 3-1. The goal was scored while Penn State was playing a player up as a Virginia player had been assessed a yellow card about three minutes earlier.
The Cavaliers closed the lead to just one at the 64:21 mark as Kaars Sijpestein scored off a penalty corner after the had touched four different players on quick passes following the initial pass off the corner.
Britney Long scored her team-leading 13th goal of the year to tie the game early in the second half. |
Penn State put the clamps down after the goal, however, as the Cavaliers did not get another shot for the remainder of the game.
For the game, Penn State was outshot by Virginia 10-9 but generated more penalty corners, 6-4. Beaumont played well in goal as she made six saves for the Lions.
Head Coach Charlene Morett Postgame Quotes
"I thought it was a great comeback for our team today. It was great seeing Jen Long get back on the field (in the second half) and just the surge of confidence it gave the team. We just kept our poise in the second half and created some opportunities. I thought Virginia was really very improved from the last time we saw them and it was a battle out there. They had some good corners as did we, but I was really just so proud of the way we came back."
"I said to the team (at the half), `one of our goals is that you just have to keep fighting and you have to be determined,' and that's how they were today and it showed."
"I thought our kids really just rose to the occasion. I think, again, it's a reflection of our fitness. I think we're a very fit team and we use that to our advantage."
Postgame Notes
- Penn State has now played six straight NCAA Tournament games in College Park and will make it seven straight tomorrow.
- The win is Penn State's 19th all-time NCAA Tournament win.
- Penn State is now 9-4 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a member of the Big Ten.
- The Nittany Lions were one of two Big Ten teams to win their first round game. Michigan also won while both Michigan State and Iowa lost in the first round.
- Penn State improves to 12-3 all-time against Virginia and 1-1 against the Cavaliers in the NCAA Tournament.
- Tomorrow will mark the third time in the last five years that Penn State has played Maryland in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Today's game marked the first time in Jen Long's career that she did not start for the Nittany Lions. By entering the game in the second half, however, she has still played in every career game.