PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The No. 8 Penn State field hockey team defeated Temple on Saturday afternoon, with six different Nittany Lions recording points in the 5-1 victory. The Owls move to 2-3 on the season, while the Lions advance to a 4-2 record. Senior Kelsey Amy (Sweet Valley, Pa.) recorded the game-winning goal just 3:27 into the game.
Amy potted the game-winner after a penalty corner taken by junior Whitney Reddig (Lititz, Pa.), who earned an assist on the play. The Lions were awarded their second penalty corner of the game just minutes later, and the duo seemed to find a pattern as Reddig set up Amy for a nearly identical goal. Penn State now had a 2-0 lead just seven minutes into the game on Amy's sixth and seventh goals of the season.
Late into the first period, Temple earned their first penalty corner of the game after five unanswered shots by the Lions. With an initial assist from Nicole Kroener, Mandy Shear set up Katie Briglia for her first goal of the year to cut Penn State's lead in half. The Owls, however, would not be able to catch up to the Lions' offense.
As the second period began, Penn State fired off seven shots before junior Brittany Grzywacz (Collegeville, Pa.) tallied her fourth goal of the season after a penalty corner. Sophomore Taylor Herold (Fredericksburg, Va.) took the corner for the Lions, finding Amy out in front of the box. Amy then sent a pass out to Grzywacz, who moved the score to 3-1 as she sent the ball past Temple goalkeeper Lizzy Millen. Less than two minutes later, sophomore Laura Gebhart (Mount Joy, Pa.) dangled past the Owls' defense and beat Millen one-on-one for her first goal of the season. Gebhart had a whopping nine shots during the contest.
With Haley Mitchell now in net for Temple, the goalkeeper fended off an initial shot from Gebhart at the 62:13 mark. However, junior Ashtin Klingler (Selinsgrove, Pa.) took advantage of the rebound and put the ball past Mitchell to extend the Lions' lead to 5-1. With one final shot from junior Natalie Buttinger (Kitchener, Ontario), time expired to give Penn State its fourth win of the season.
The Lions outshot the Owls 28-9, with 15 being produced between Amy and Gebhart. Penn State also had a 14-2 advantage in penalty corners. Goalkeeper Ayla Halus made one save during the contest, while Millen recorded an impressive 12 saves and Mitchell stopped two shots.
Penn State returns home on Sunday, Sept. 9, when it hosts Cornell University at 2 p.m. for the first time in program history.
Check back at GoPSUSports.com for continued updates during the 2012 season. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/PennStateFH and find us on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstatefieldhockey.
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