May 7, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio - For the fourth consecutive year, the Penn State women's lacrosse team (10-7) had its hopes for a conference crown dashed by Northwestern (16-1), as the Nittany Lions dropped a 15-9 decision to the five-time defending league champion Wildcats, in a semifinal match-up of the 2010 ALC Championship on Friday afternoon.
Freshman attacker Molly Fernandez (Baltimore, Md.) capped off a brilliant rookie season by tying her season high of four goals to spearhead the Penn State offense. Junior attacker Jen Steadman (Sykesville, Md.) followed up her six-point performance versus Ohio State on Thursday with a four-point output (2 goals, 2 assists) against Northwestern. Three other Nittany Lions, Mary Dean (Wyncote, Pa.), Maria Valderas (Catonsville, Md.), and Theresa Zichelli (Severna Park, Md.), netted one goal each.
Senior goalkeeper Stephanie Ellis (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) kept Penn State in the game with 12 saves against a barrage of 35 Northwestern shots.
After over three minutes of back-and-forth play, Penn State opened the scoring when Dean recorded her 20th of the season, giving the Nittany Lions seven players with 20 or more goals this season. Northwestern bounced back by embarking on a 4-1 run, with Steadman accounting for the Lions' lone score over the five minute span of time, to take a 4-2 lead.
Fernandez then pulled PSU even with the Wildcats at 4-4 by netting back-to-back goals. Northwestern responded again by going on a 4-1 run to end the first half and headed to the break with an 8-5 advantage.
Northwestern extended its lead to 10-5 with two goals through the second half's first five-plus minutes. Fernandez ended the NU scoring streak with her third goal of the game at the 22:43 mark but the tide was stemmed only temporarily. The Wildcats fought back to build their largest lead of the game at 13-6 by scoring three consecutive goals.
Penn State would go on to outscore Northwestern, 3-2, over the game's final 16:27 but the Lions couldn't get enough possessions to mount a legitimate comeback. The Wildcats had a 19-7 advantage in draw controls for the game, including an 11-1 difference in the second half.
The Penn State-Northwestern ALC Championship semifinal contest will be televised on the Big Ten Network as a rebroadcast on Friday evening at 10 p.m.