Nov. 13, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sophomore goalie Ayla Halus was simply sensational in the cage with a career-high 18 saves, but the Penn State field hockey team could not quite complete its upset bid against No. 4 Syracuse as the Orange took down the Nittany Lions, 2-1, in an overtime thriller during the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the PSU Field Hockey Complex.
Daneen Zug scored a crucial second-half goal for the Lions (14-6) that knotted the game at one and helped propel the contest into overtime. Unfortunately, despite Penn State's unrelenting effort on both sides of the ball, Syracuse's Lindsey Conrad came through in the extra session and tallied the game-winning goal with just over seven minutes remaining in overtime to vault Syracuse (16-4) into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"I couldn't ask for anything more from this team," said head coach Charlene Morett. "They fought so hard, especially in the overtime. We had to convert on those opportunities that we had, but we were just running out of gas a little bit. I thought Hannah Allison had an exceptional game, and I thought Jess Longstreth played really well. It was a great team effort. Everybody was stepping up."
Although Syracuse was the aggressor throughout most of the contest and held a convincing 23-13 lead in shots, Halus refused to let the game slip away. Posting save-after-save, she was a dominating presence on the defensive end. Showing a full-range of skills while batting away blasts from every conceivable position, Halus tied the single-game record for saves at the PSU Field Hockey Complex.
"Ayla did a great, great job," said Morett. "She was absolutely phenomenal. She had the defense's back the whole time, and that's what you need to win the game. You need that type of goaltending."
Early in the first period, the flow of the game was irrevocably changed. Just over seven minutes into regulation, there was a double-infraction on the far side of the field that resulted in a pair of red cards. From then on, the two teams were each down a player and competed 10-on-10 for the remainder of the contest.
Despite the infraction, Penn State never let up. The team regrouped and came out firing. The Nittany Lions uncorked three straight rockets, but Syracuse's Leann Stiver kicked away all three attempts. Later, after the momentum swung the other way, Halus stepped up and stopped three consecutive Syracuse attempts to keep the game scoreless.
Following Halus' defensive display, the Orange continued to press. The squad earned a corner at the 19:35 mark. After a nice entry feed by Liz McInerney, Amy Kee found a slight opening on the left side of the cage and lit up the scoreboard with her sixth goal of the season.
Following the score, the two teams continued to battle back-and-forth in an entertaining seesaw battle. Halus remained steady in the cage, posting three saves for Penn State in the waning moments of the first half. Stiver matched her dominance on Syracuse's end, batting away two attempts to keep the game at 1-0 heading into halftime.
Following the intermission, Penn State picked up the pace and put Syracuse on edge. Eventually, the pressure paid off as the Lions evened the score at one with 26:51 left in regulation. After earning a penalty corner, Hannah Allison took the initial shot and ripped a rocket towards the cage. Without hesitation, Zug came flying in and deflected the shot just enough with her stick to even the game and give the Nittany Lions new life.
Refusing to let Penn State control the tempo, Syracuse went back on the attack. The Orange ripped eight straight shots during a 15-minute span in the second half. Despite the surge, the squad could not find even the slightest opening in the wall that stood in the Penn State zone. Utilizing her glove and stick with perfect ease, Halus kept the game tied as the clock slowly whittled down.
Finally, after holding up against the Orange attack, Penn State pieced together one final attempt. As the clock crept down to the end of regulation, the hosts earned a penalty corner. Following a timeout, PSU allowed the clock to expire before taking the corner. Eventually, with all zeroes on the scoreboard, Allison roped a blast from just inside the arc. Unfortunately, Stiver was there to stop the shot and corral the ball during a scrum in front of the cage to force overtime.
In the extra session, a track meet broke out on the field as the two teams competed six-on-six as a result of the first half red cards. Each run was quickly matched by another surge the other way. Finally, Penn State briefly took control of the momentum. The Lions earned three straight corners, but the shots that followed went wide and were batted away by Stiver.
After withstanding Penn State's surge, Syracuse went back on the attack. The Orange uncorked a shot that was blocked before Halus made an outstanding save on a blast from the corner. Unfortunately, the ball squirted away to where Lindsey Conrad had settled. After gaining control, she spun and fired a shot to the left just out of Halus' reach to clinch the victory.
Penn State held a slight 10-7 edge in penalty corners, but the biggest discrepancy came in saves. Halus' record-tying 18 stops were 10 more than Syracuse registered during the game.
Despite the setback, the Nittany Lions have a great deal to look forward to next season. A youthful team, PSU returns all four of its all-conference performers, who certainly gained a great deal of experience during the squad's late-season contests.
"For us being so young, and having so many players who are inexperienced at this level, they came out and competed and could have won the game," said Morett. "Obviously, they had some great chances, but I'm really, really proud of the team and the season that they had. It's hard to believe that it's over."