Oct. 2, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Guided by a lethal penalty corner combination that produced four goals, the 15th-ranked Penn State field hockey team cruised to a 5-3 victory over Big Ten rival Iowa on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex.
During the contest, the Nittany Lions converted four of their nine penalty corner opportunities, including two in each half. The tandem of Jessica Longstreth and Kristen Schaefer was effective throughout the day as the two standouts each tallied three assists. Hannah Allison was the main beneficiary of the crisp passing as she blasted home a pair of goals.
With the victory, Penn State improved its record to 7-3, including 2-1 in conference action. Iowa fell to 3-7 with an 0-2 mark in league play.
"Corner execution was very key," said head coach Charlene Morett. "We added a new corner to the right, which we scored on twice. The first half defense was outstanding as well."
At the beginning of the contest, the two teams battled back and forth through the first 13 minutes of action. Finally, at the 13:42 mark, Penn State landed the first blow. Kelsey Amy grabbed a clean pass and flew up the sideline into the Iowa zone. With a quick move to her right, she blew by a defender before getting taken down by another Hawkeye to earn a penalty stroke.
With a golden opportunity to open the scoring, Longstreth took the free shot and blasted the ball past Iowa goalkeeper Kathleen McGraw to give Penn State a quick 1-0 lead. Eight minutes later, the Nittany Lions attacked again, earning their second penalty corner of the game. Setting the tone for the rest of the contest, Longstreth uncorked a beautiful pass to Schaefer, who fed Allison for a one-timer that gave the squad a 2-0 advantage.
With the clock winding down towards halftime, Penn State refused to let up. Just 33 seconds before the break, the hosts earned another corner. Once again, Schaefer came through with a flawless feed that allowed Allison to tack on her second goal of the contest.
Trailing 3-0 at halftime, Iowa came out reenergized in the second half and quickly capitalized on an aggressive attack. At the 45:08 mark, the Hawkeyes did their best Nittany Lion impression by converting a penalty corner. On the play, Sarah Pergine and Geena Lesiak set up Jessica Barnett, who snuck a shot past the Lion's Ayla Halus.
With the Hawkeyes on the board, Penn State retaliated. Just three minutes after Iowa's goal, the Longstreth-Schaefer combination struck again. Following a corner, the two standouts fed Daneen Zug, who fired a blast off the Iowa goalie's glove hand and into the back of the cage to give the squad a 4-1 edge.
Feeling the need for a little more breathing room, Penn State got right back to work. Serving as the aggressors throughout the match, the Nittany Lions found themselves in the Iowa zone again in the 57th minute of action. Fittingly, Longstreth came through again as she fed Kelsey Amy, who launched her team-leading seventh goal of the season to give the team a nice cushion at 5-1.
As the clock slowly ticked down, Iowa picked up the pace. With little time remaining for a comeback bid, the Hawkeyes got right to work. After the visitors earned a penalty corner at the 60-minute mark, Jessica Barnett unloaded a shot that Halus batted away with a sprawling save. Unfortunately, Iowa quickly corralled the rebound as Sarah Drake found an opening for her first goal of the season.
Just four minutes later, Iowa pulled even closer. With the ball in the Penn State zone, Drake spun around a Nittany Lion defender and found Kim Scraper in front of the cage. The freshman forward found brief daylight and snuck a shot past Halus to pull the Hawkeyes within two at 5-3.
Sensing newfound life in their opponent, the Nittany Lions refused to let the Hawkeyes pull any closer. Despite a late charge at the end of the game, the Penn State defense held strong. The unit kept Iowa scoreless during the waning moments of the contest as Halus and her defensive standouts stood up against a pair of late shots to keep the Hawkeyes at bay.
Halus finished the contest with four saves, while her Hawkeye counterpart, Kathleen McGraw, batted away three shots. Overall, the Nittany Lions held a 14-8 advantage in shots during the game and a 9-4 edge in penalty corners.
Penn State will return to the field tomorrow at noon for a contest against Monmouth. Prior to the game, the Nittany Lions will hold their annual Senior Day ceremonies.