Sept. 23, 2009
PRINCETON, N.J. - Despite a career-high 14 saves from junior goalkeeper Ali Meves, the No. 7 Princeton Tigers proved too much as the Penn State field hockey team dropped a hard-fought 3-0 decision in its final nonconference tune-up on Wednesday evening.
The Nittany Lions allowed a Kathleen Sharkey goal only 4:23 into the game, but bounced back to play a strong first half which kept the deficit at 1-0. Princeton came out of halftime firing with two goals in the span of 5:31 early in the second stanza for all that it would need. Meves stood tall with her save total marking the most by any Penn State goalie since Jen Beaumont had 16 on Oct. 8, 2006 vs. Ohio State.
Princeton doubled its lead only 6:14 into the second half behind tic-tac-toe passing off a penalty corner. Katie Reinprecht ultimately made the feed to Michelle Cesan, who made the tip past Meves for an insurance goal.
The Tigers kept pouring on the pressure and converted another penalty corner attempt for a 3-0 advantage at 46:45. Meves made two successive saves off Princeton shots, but Kaitlyn Perrelle corralled the rebound and found the back of the cage on the Tigers' third shot of the sequence.
Penn State had a number of chances all game, starting with a breakaway opportunity barely over a minute in, and another Daneen Zug shot at 3:38. A second half surge came from freshman Kelsey Amy, who had two successive shots, but Princeton goalie Jennifer King stood tall as she did all game for her first shutout of the season.
Final shots were 25-8 in favor of Princeton while the Tigers held the edge in penalty corners, 5-3. King finished with five saves to go along with Meves' 14.
Penn State travels to Michigan on Sunday for its Big Ten opener. Gametime is set for 1 p.m. Be sure to come out to the Penn State Field Hockey Complex on Friday, Oct. 2, as the Nittany Lions return home to face Ohio State in a nationally televised Big Ten Network showdown. Check back to GoPSUsports.com for news and notes as Penn State prepares for conference play.
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