Oct. 29, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. - Guided by the efforts of Kelsey Amy and Jessica Longstreth, the Penn State field hockey team relied on its lethal penalty corner combination to wrap up its regular season with a 4-2 victory over Northwestern during a Big Ten bout at the Lakeside Field on Friday afternoon.
During the contest, Amy posted her second four-goal performance of the season after tallying a hat-trick in the first half before adding an insurance goal late in the second period. Longstreth provided the support, assisting on each of Amy's four goals.
With the win, Penn State improves to 13-4 on the season, including 4-2 in conference action. The squad currently sits in third place in the league with the Big Ten tournament looming next week. Final seedings for the playoffs will be determined following the conclusion of the regular season on Sunday.
After a relatively quiet start to the game, the Nittany Lions exploded during an eight-minute stretch to grab a commanding lead against Northwestern (11-7, 3-2 Big Ten). After seeing their first penalty corner pushed aside by the Wildcat defense, the squad refused to let another opportunity slip away.
At the 22:41 mark of the first half, PSU earned its second corner of the contest. On the play, Longstreth fed a crisp pass to Amy. After settling into her spot on the left wing, the sophomore standout launched a rocket into the back of the cage to give the squad a 1-0 lead.
Less than five minutes later, Penn State continued its surge. Once again, Longstreth passed the ball directly to Amy, who uncorked a clean shot past Northwestern's Amanda Wirth for her second goal of the half.
Keeping the pressure on, Amy quickly fired another shot on goal before the team earned one more corner. Following the same script that worked on the first two scores, Longstreth fired a direct feed to Amy, who completed the hat-trick with another blast from the left side at the 30:43 mark.
Reeling from Penn State's quick-strike offense, Northwestern slowly regrouped. With time running down in the first half, the Wildcats earned their fourth corner of the game. After seeing the Nittany Lions clamp down on their first three attempts, they broke through with 48 seconds remaining before halftime. On the play, Nikki Parsley found a spot on the far post and deflected a pass from Zoe Almquist to put the hosts on the board.
Carrying some momentum from their play at the end of the first half, Northwestern struck again early in the second. Just three minutes into the new period, Regan Mooney corralled a loose ball in front of the cage and tipped it to Kaylee Pohlmeyer. With a little room, she squeezed a shot past Ayla Halus to whittle the Wildcats' deficit down to one at 3-2.
Sensing newfound life in their opponent, the Nittany Lions tried to respond. The squad earned a pair of penalty corners and Amy launched two shots in a five-minute span, but the reinvigorated Wildcat defense held strong.
After withstanding Penn State's attack, Northwestern tried to take control. Nikki Parsley and Chelsea Armstrong each unloaded a pair of shots, but Ayla Halus was incredible in the cage. The reigning Defensive Player of the Week had a spectacular run in which she made four straight saves to keep the lead intact.
Looking for one last insurance goal, the Nittany Lions turned to their tried-and-true method of scoring. With seven minutes remaining in regulation, Penn State earned another corner. Fittingly, the Longstreth-Amy combination worked perfectly again as the two connected for their fourth goal of the game to seal the victory.
During the contest, Penn State held a slim 8-7 edge in penalty corners and trailed by a 9-8 margin in shots. The largest discrepancy came in saves as Halus posted five during the contest, while Wirth tallied one for Northwestern.
The Nittany Lions await the end of the regular season to find out their first round opponent in the Big Ten Tournament. The playoffs begin next Thursday at Northwestern's Lakeside Field.