Sept. 1, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In a rematch of last year's NCAA second-round game, the No. 6 Penn State field hockey squad came up short in a tight 1-0 decision against No. 2 Maryland. With a crowd of 794 fans on Monday, the Terps were able to grab the match-up this time around after losing to Penn State in last year's NCAA Tournament.
The Terrapins' Susie Rowe scored the lone goal of the game at the 55th minute mark.
Penn State goalkeeper Jen Beaumont (Chalfont, Pa.) made five saves, including several key stops early in the second half.
Maryland ended the deadlock off one of its five penalty corners. After the corner stop was dished to her, Lowe made a head-fake and passed it to teammate Ameliet Richardson. Richardson attempted a shot but sent it back to Lowe, who placed it cleanly over Beaumont's pads into the back of the cage. Richardson was accredited with an assist.
"We couldn't seize control from the start," head coach Charlene Morett said. "Maryland is a good team and they showed it today. You have to show up wanting to play against teams like Maryland."
The Terrapins held a 12-5 advantage in shots and allowed only two shots on goal. Penn State trailed 5-3 in penalty corners.
As expected, the game was a low-scoring affair. Penn State held Maryland to without a shot for the first ten minutes of the game but failed to score off of Terrapin goalkeeper Alicia Grater on two penalty corners.
Maryland possessed the ball for much of the latter part of first half but its shots were routinely thwarted by Jessica Longstreth (Richboro, Pa.) and Jen Long (Doylestown, Pa.).
Beaumont and the Nittany Lion defense kept Penn State in striking distance. With 25 minutes remaining in the first half, Maryland's Sarah Scholl found herself on a breakaway attempt with no defenders in sight when Beaumont lunged out of the goal and knocked away the ball before Scholl could get off a shot. Seconds before Rowe's tally, Beaumont made a kick save off an open Nicole Muracco shot.
Penn State defeated Maryland last year 1-0 in the second round of NCAA tournament to advance to the Final Four. Prior to that, the Terrapins won back-to-back national championships and made the national semi-finals for the past four seasons.
The Nittany Lion defense held first-team All-American Katie O'Donnell to without a shot on the game.
The Penn State field hockey team will travel to Storrs, Conn. to play No. 4 Connecticut Saturday. Its next home game is Wednesday, Sept. 10 against Temple.