Sept. 22, 2014 UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Gabrielle Richards, GoPSUsports Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Within the first few minutes of play vs. Michigan, it was obvious that it was going to be a hard-fought fight.
At the end of last Sunday's win against Lafayette, coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss fielded some questions about playing Michigan. In response to whether or not she was "excited" to start the Big Ten schedule, she replied, "When two Big Ten teams go at it, you never know what is going to happen. It's going to come down to the wire. We are looking forward to it."
She was right.
Friday's contest between the two Big Ten rivals was unpredictable. Any sports fan would have been on the edge of their seat for the 74 minutes the two teams were on the field. After two halves and a few minutes of overtime play, the Nittany Lions fell short of a victory, falling to the Wolverines 3-2.
While it is never easy to lose, losing allows for a team to go back to the drawing board and to fix the little things.
"We could have done a better job of boxing them in the corner," coach Morett-Curtiss said. "We let them get to the circle and when you do that you're in trouble."
First Half Notables
On Friday, the Nittany Lions came right out of the gate and put the ball in the back of the cage. Four minutes into the first half, Taylor Herold received a pass from Emilee Ehret on a penalty corner, putting the Nittany Lions on the board first.
The next Nittany Lion goal wouldn't come for another 15 minutes. Penn State was awarded a corner and Ehret found the back of the net, propelling the Nittany Lions to a 2-0 leading heading into halftime.
Even though Penn State was leading 2-0, the Wolverines outshot the Nittany Lions in the first half, 5-4. Each team was awarded the same amount of corners, along with a pair of penalty cards.
"I said to the girls at half time that it was going to be a physical game," coach Morett-Curtiss said. "It's aggressive hockey, its Big Ten hockey."
Second Half Notables
The momentum shifted in the second half. It was more physical and much faster. There was an obvious shift in the Michigan offense, as they were playing with a girl inside the Penn State circle, looking for a long pass, for most of the half.
Michigan found the back of the net just three minutes into the second half. The next 32 minutes of regulation play would be the most physical yet. With the 2-1 score, it was anyone's game. Three penalty cards were issued between the first and second Michigan goal: one to the Wolverines, a pair to the Nittany Lions. With 15 minutes left in the second half, the Wolverines found the back of the net, again to tie the score.
But, one more card was given out before the end of regulation play. Penn State received a five-minute penalty card with just 30 seconds before the over-time half would begin. The Nittany Lions played the entire overtime period down a player.
Just 18 seconds before Penn State would be able to field another player, Michigan found the back of the net, making the score 3-2.
"I give Michigan credit," coach Morett-Curtiss said. "They came back being down 2-0. Its really unfortunate for us to start overtime down a player. We have chances the last two minutes. Their goalie came up with some saves, but we just couldn't connect on a couple of those corner opportunities. We just couldn't put one in."
Preparing for Lock Haven
The Nittany Lions will host Lock Haven on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Penn State has won the last 12 games of the series.
"Lock Haven is always a tough game," senior Laura Gebhart said. "We need to learn from our loss to Michigan and come out ready to play on Tuesday."