Sept. 22, 2013
EASTON, Pa. - EASTON, Pa.; September 22, 2013 - Penn State increased its win streak to four matches in a 3-0 shutout over Lafayette on Sunday afternoon. The victory improves the No. 12 Nittany Lions' record to 5-3 on the season.
The Lions' Brittany Grzywacz (Collegeville, Pa.) struck just before the close of the first half to put the visitors on top and then Jenna Chrismer (Mountain Top, Pa.) and Whitney Reddig (Lititz, Pa.) added second half goals to secure the squad's fifth victory of the season. The shutout was PSU's second of the weekend and third of the season.
Offensively, the game got off to a slow start for both sides on Sunday. Through the first 22 minutes of play, Penn State and Lafayette each only recorded one shot and the Nittany Lions attempted the match's only penalty corner.
The Blue and White picked up the pressure considerably in the remaining 13 minutes of the opening frame and started generating scoring chances.
After four penalty corner opportunities and four shots in the last five minutes of the half, Penn State found the breakthrough goal it was desperately searching for at the stroke of halftime. Following a penalty corner, Grzywacz found the ball on a scramble in the circle and fired a shot past the Leopards' keeper to take a 1-0 advantage into the break.
The goal was the senior's fifth of the season and third in as many matches. The goal marks the fourth consecutive match in which the Lions have scored the first goal of the contest and have had the lead after the first 35 minutes of play.
In the first, Penn State outshot the hosts 7-1 and had six penalty corner opportunities, while not allowing Lafayette any attempts.
The Blue and White carried the momentum from the first half strike into the second period and doubled its lead in the 53rd minute. Chrismer cut in from the right side of the circle and unleashed a reverse shot to give Penn State a two goal cushion. The score marked Chrismer's third of the season. The junior has now scored in back-to-back matches.
After Lafayette's second and third shots of the match with just over 12 minutes remaining, the Lions dominated the rest of the contest. The team recorded four penalty corners in the final six minutes, with Laura Gebhart (Mount Joy, Pa.) and Taylor Herold (Fredericksburg, Va.) each forcing the opposing keeper to make saves.
Reddig sealed the victory in the 68th minute by notching her third goal of the season. The senior gathered in the rebound off a corner and slotted the ball into the cage to deliver PSU the 3-0 win.
"We got off to a slow start like we always do at Lafayette but we played better in the second half," said head coach Charlene Morett. "Our corner execution was much better today and I thought Brittany Grzywacz made a great decision on the first goal of the day to keep the ball herself. She read the defense and took her time to score the goal."
With the three goals, Penn State has now scored at least three times in each of the last five matches and has outscored the opposition by a combined 15-3 mark in its last four contests.
The Nittany Lion defense continued its fine form in the win, allowing three or fewer shot attempts for the third time in its last four matches, shutting out three opponents in that span.
"I thought the deep defenders did a nice job," said Morett. "We still need to play better defense in the midfield and individually but Katie Breneman and Katie Andrews both played very well today."
The Nittany Lions now head to the Hoosier state for back-to-back matches in Bloomington against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 2 p.m. followed by a match with Indiana on Sunday at noon. The clash with Indiana will be the Nittany Lions' first Big Ten contest of the season. Last year the Lions went 5-1 in Big Ten play on their way to becoming Big Ten champions.