April 17, 2015
| #12 PENN STATE at #7 NU | |
| 11-3 (3-0 B1G) | 10-4 (2-1 B1G) |
| Sunday, April 19 at 1 p.m. ET | |
| LAKESIDE FIELD | EVANSTON | |
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TEAM STATISTICS Penn State | Northwestern |
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| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | 2015 Stats | NU |
| 11-3 | Overall Record | 10-4 |
| 3-0 | Conference Record | 2-1 |
| 195 | Goals Scored | 156 |
| 121 | Goals Allowed | 135 |
| 13.93 | Goals Scored/gm. | 11.14 |
| 8.64 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 9.64 |
| 425 | Shots | 355 |
| 30.4 | Shots/gm. | 25.4 |
| 76 | Assists | 46 |
| 36-74 | Free-Position Shots | 34-77 |
| 209 | Ground Balls | 225 |
| 186 | Draw Controls | 168 |
| 161 | Turnovers | 185 |
| 132 | Caused Turnovers | 106 |
| 101 | Saves | 99 |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The No. 12 Nittany Lion women's lacrosse team heads to Ithaca, N.Y. to face the Cornell Big Red in the teams' final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday evening. Opening draw at Schoellkopf Field is set for 5 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT: No. 12 Penn State 13, Cornell 9 (April 14)
A sluggish start did not deter the No. 12 Penn State women's lacrosse team as it used a 7-0 first-half run en route to a 13-9 victory over Cornell Tuesday evening at Schoellkopf Field. Steph Lazo (Stevensville, Md.) fired three goals to pace the Nittany Lions who won their sixth straight game.
Lazo registered her ninth multi-goal game of the season and her sixth game with at least three goals. Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) and Madison Cyr (Westminster, Md.) each posted three-point evenings on two goals and an assist.
Cyr took a long stretch pass from the right wing, sent it down low to Maggie McCormick who fed the cutting Cyr in front for the junior's second of the game and 23rd of the season. For McCormick the helper was her 30th of the year, giving her 124 for her career and producing her third 30-assist collegiate season.
WHAT'S ON THE LINE
Penn State enters the weekend with a 3-0 Big Ten record along with No. 1 Maryland. A win on Sunday would give Penn State a 4-0 record and a bye to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on May 1 at Rutgers. A win would help Northwestern's quest for a bye as well, locking PSU and NU with matching 3-1 conference tallies entering the final week of the season.
MCCORMICK RISES IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Maggie McCormick is the current Penn State record holder for assists (124) and has risen to fourth in all-time points (245). Her point total is the most by a Nittany Lion in a single career since Tami Worley registered 289 in 1986-89. McCormick (121 goals) is 14th all-time at Penn State in scoring.
BALANCED SCORING
The Nittany Lions have received goals from 14 different sources this season with eight different double-digit scorers in all. Steph Lazo (28) leads the bunch followed by Tatum Coffey (26), Madison Cyr (23), Maggie McCormick (21), Jenna Mosketti (20), Kelly Lechner (19), Katie O'Donnell (18) and Abby Smucker (10).
One other Nittany Lion is on the cusp of 10 goals: Jess Loizeaux (9).
LAZO LEADING THE LIONS
Despite missing two games with injury, Penn State sophomore Steph Lazo is the team's leader in goals with 28.
Lazo had a five-goal game against Lehigh and a hat trick against Bucknell before scoring two vs. Duquesne. She found the back of the net once more against Virginia in February and added another hat trick vs. Loyola on March 7.
Lazo's hat trick against Stanford was her fifth game with three or more goals before she added two more tallied at Rutgers. Lazo notched her sixth game of three or more goals vs. Ohio State, and her seventh such game at Cornell.
In all, Lazo has 34 points on the season, tied for second on the team with Tatum Coffey (34, 26-8), trailing only Maggie McCormick (51, 21-30). Entering 2015, Lazo had only one goal to her name.
MCCORMICK, SMITH EARN BIG TEN WEEKLY PLAUDITS
Two Nittany Lion women's lacrosse student-athletes were named Big Ten players of the week on Monday afternoon as Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) and Emi Smith (Denver, Colo.) picked up offensive and defensive honors, respectively.
Both McCormick and Smith earned their second Big Ten weekly awards of the season by anchoring their team's 11-5 victory over Michigan this past Thursday. McCormick registered a seven-point night on two goals and five assists, while Smith saved six shots.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
The battle-tested Northwestern Wildcats (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten) are coming off an impressive 10-9 victory at No. 7 Notre Dame Thursday night. NU has played the fourth-toughest schedule in the nation and Penn State will represent the 10th ranked foe this season, all within the top 12.
Northwestern employs a high-pressure defense and strong ride that forces turnovers on 26 percent of opponents' clears. The Wildcats average 11.14 goals per game on 43.9 percent shooting, while allowing 9.64 goals per game on 45.3 percent shooting. NU has averaged 25.4 shots per game, while limiting teams to just 21.3 shots a game.
Northwestern's offense runs through freshman Selena Lasota, who has scored 52 goals, ranking fourth nationally in goals per game with 3.71. Two other Wildcats, redshirt-senior Kara Mupo (28 goals) and junior Kaleigh Craig (25) are NU's other 20+ goal scorers.
Corrinne Wessels (11 assists) and Shelby Fredericks (10) lead the team in helpers. Fredericks (42 draw controls) and Sheila Nesselbush (44) scoop up the majority of the draw controls.
In net, senior Bridget Bianco is a two-time IWLCA All-America Third Team honoree and has a 9.41 goals-against average and a .436 save percentage. Bianco is 43-12 in her career.
THE PENN STATE-NORTHWESTERN SERIES
Penn State and Northwestern will meet for the 24th time on Sunday with the Wildcats holding a 19-4 advantage. Last year, PSU lost a 5-4 heartbreaker at home in a driving rain storm. Two of the last three meetings have been decided by a single goal.
All-Time Series: Northwestern leads 19-4
First Meeting: 4/28/84, PSU 16-6
Last Meeting: 4/4/14, NU 5-4
Last PSU Win: 4/19/03, 12-7
Last NU Win: 4/4/14, 5-4
Largest PSU Win: 16-6 (4/28/84)
Largest NU Win: 19-7 (5/4/07)
CYR, MCCORMICK NAMED TO TEWAARATON AWARD WATCH LIST
Senior Maggie McCormick and junior Madison Cyr were named as two of 50 women's lacrosse players to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List on Thursday night, Feb. 26. The Tewaaraton Award, presented by Under Armour, honors the best men's and women's collegiate lacrosse player.
This is the fifth straight season the Nittany Lions have had a representative on the preseason watch list. Potential additions to the watch list will be announced March 19 and April 9 before the first cutdown to 25 players on April 23.
THIS IS B1G
Penn State is one of six members in the inaugural season for Big Ten women's lacrosse. The Nittany Lions join storied programs such as Maryland and its 12 NCAA titles and Northwestern with its seven championships. When PSU's two NCAA crowns are factored in, the Big Ten is the winningest conference in women's lacrosse.
Joining PSU, Maryland and Northwestern are Ohio State, Rutgers and Michigan in the Big Ten fold. Each team will play the other five members of the conference once. The 2015 Big Ten Tournament is set for April 30-May 3 at Rutgers with all six teams participating.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State heads to College Park to face No. 1 Maryland on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET in the teams' regular-season finale. The game will be broadcast nationally on Big Ten Network and BTN2Go.