April 30, 2015
| #7 PENN STATE at Big Ten Tourney | |
| 12-4 (4-1 B1G) | NU or Michigan |
| Friday, May 1 at 5:30 p.m. | |
| HIGH POINT SOLUTIONS STADIUM | PISCATAWAY | |
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TEAM STATISTICS Penn State | Northwestern | Michigan |
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| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | 2015 Stats | NU / MICH |
| 12-4 | Overall Record | 11-5 / 5-11 |
| 4-1 | Conference Record | 3-2 / 0-5 |
| 219 | Goals Scored | 182 / 171 |
| 144 | Goals Allowed | 155 / 196 |
| 13.69 | Goals Scored/gm. | 11.38 / 10.69 |
| 9.00 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 9.69 / 12.25 |
| 467 | Shots | 410 / 402 |
| 29.2 | Shots/gm. | 25.6 / 25.1 |
| 90 | Assists | 57 / 50 |
| 36-81 | Free-Position Shots | 37-82 / 37-87 |
| 236 | Ground Balls | 257 / 292 |
| 205 | Draw Controls | 197 / 169 |
| 186 | Turnovers | 208 / 261 |
| 142 | Caused Turnovers | 117 / 144 |
| 121 | Saves | 117 / 132 |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The No. 7 Nittany Lion women's lacrosse team enters the inaugural Big Ten Tournament as the No. 2 seed and is set to face the winner of third-seeded Northwestern and No. 6 seed Michigan on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and BTN2Go.
FIVE LIONS EARN ALL-BIG TEN DISTINCTION
The Big Ten Conference announced its first women's lacrosse all-conference team on Wednesday afternoon and it features five Nittany Lions. Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.), Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) and Abby Smucker (Bel Air, Md.) each received unanimous selection, while Madison Cyr (Westminster, Md.) and Emi Smith (Denver, Colo.) rounded out Penn State's All-Big Ten roster.
The Nittany Lions made up 25 percent of the inaugural All-Big Ten Team, with No. 1 Maryland taking home seven spots. In addition to the five representatives, McCormick represents Penn State as the team's Sportsmanship Award honoree.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Penn State is taking part in its ninth conference tournament, the first as part of the Big Ten. In eight previous ALC Tournaments, Penn State went 5-7, reaching the tournament final once (2009, at Penn State).
Against its former ALC rivals, Penn State went 4-0 against Ohio State, 0-6 vs. Northwestern and didn't face Michigan in last year's tournament. PSU's No. 2 seed matches the highest seeding, which came in the 2009 campaign.
LAST TIME OUT: No. 1 Maryland 13, No. 8 Penn State 10 (April 23)
The No. 8 Penn State women's lacrosse team ran with top-ranked Maryland Thursday night at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex, but couldn't rally for the victory in a 13-10 loss.
Jenna Mosketti (Fallston, Md.) and Steph Lazo (Stevensville, Md.) each tallied hat tricks, while Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) handed out five assists for the second straight game.
Emi Smith (Denver, Colo.) had seven saves in 42:34 of action, having to leave the game with a knee injury in the second half. McKenna Coyle (Kennett Square, Pa.) had three saves, while allowing four goals in 17:26 of game time.
MCCORMICK NAMED A TEWAARATON NOMINEE FOR A SECOND TIME
Senior attacker Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) was named to a Tewaaraton Award nominee on Thursday (April 23) afternoon. McCormick is one of the top 25 women's lacrosse players in the nation up for the highest award in collegiate lacrosse.
From the 25 nominees, a finalists list of five athletes will be selected with their male counterparts on Thursday, May 7 to be invited to the ceremony. The 15th annual Tewaaraton Award Ceremony will be May 28 in Washington at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.
McCormick is a nominee for the second time in her career (2013 as a sophomore). One of the top distributors in college lacrosse, McCormick is fifth in the nation in assists (35) and assists per game (2.33).
MOVIN' ON UP
The Nittany Lions moved up a spot in both major national polls this week after a hard fought loss Maryland. The Nittany Lions check in with season-best rankings of No. 7 in both the IWLCA Coaches Poll and Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. In the NCAA RPI, PSU moved up three spots to No. 9.
MCCORMICK RISES IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Maggie McCormick is the current Penn State record holder for assists (129) and has risen to fourth in all-time points (255). 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 nine different double-digit scorers in all. Steph Lazo (34) leads the bunch followed by Tatum Coffey (29), Madison Cyr (26), Kelly Lechner (23), Jenna Mosketti (23), Maggie McCormick (21), Katie O'Donnell (21), Jess Loizeaux (10), and Abby Smucker (10).
LAZO LEADING THE LIONS
Despite missing two games with injury, Penn State sophomore Steph Lazo is the team's leader in goals with 34.
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 recorded hat tricks at Cornell, at Northwestern, and at Maryland, giving her nine games this season with at least three goals.
In all, Lazo has 41 points on the season, the second-most on the team. She trails only Maggie McCormick (61, 21-40). Entering 2015, Lazo had only one goal to her name.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
The battle-tested Northwestern Wildcats (11-5, 3-2 Big Ten) bounced back from their loss to the Nittany Lions with a 16-6 rout of No. 20 Ohio State. The No. 9 Wildcats have faced eight top-10 opponents this season, going an even 4-4 in those games.
Northwestern employs a high-pressure defense and strong ride that forces turnovers on 26 percent of opponents' clears. The Wildcats average 11.38 goals per game on 44.4 percent shooting, while allowing 9.69 goals per game on 44.9 percent shooting. NU has averaged 25.6 shots per game, while limiting teams to just 21.6 shots a game.
Northwestern's offense runs through freshman Selena Lasota, who has scored 56 goals, ranking sixth nationally in goals per game with 3.50. Two other Wildcats, redshirt-senior Kara Mupo (32 goals) and junior Kaleigh Craig (31) are NU's other 30+ goal scorers.
Corrinne Wessels (15 assists) and Shelby Fredericks (10) lead the team in helpers. Fredericks (50 draw controls) and Sheila Nesselbush (47) scoop up the 49.2 percent of Northwestern's draw controls.
In net, senior Bridget Bianco is a two-time IWLCA All-America Third Team honoree and has a 9.40 goals-against average and a .438 save percentage. Bianco is 44-13 in her career.
THE PENN STATE-NORTHWESTERN SERIES
Penn State and Northwestern will meet for the 25th time on Friday, less than two weeks after the Nittany Lions won a 14-10 shocker in Evanston. Last year, PSU lost a 5-4 heartbreaker at home in a driving rainstorm. The Nittany Lions will try to build a winning streak against Northwestern for the first time since the 1980s. Two of the last four meetings have been decided by a single goal.
All-Time Series: Northwestern leads 19-5
PSU Streak: 1 win
First Meeting: 4/28/84, PSU 16-6
Last Meeting: 4/19/15, PSU 14-10
Last PSU Win: 4/19/15, 14-10
Last NU Win: 4/4/14, 5-4
Largest PSU Win: 16-6 (4/28/84)
Largest NU Win: 19-7 (5/4/07)
ABOUT THE WOLVERINES
Michigan (5-11, 0-5 Big Ten) is currently on an eight-game losing streak following Sunday's 7-6 home loss to Rutgers. Five of Michigan's seven losses have come by a single goal this season. The Wolverines average 10.69 goals per game, while allowing 12.25. Michigan attempts 25.13 shots per game and scores at a 42.5 percent clip. Wolverine goalkeepers have held a save percentage of 40.2.
Michigan receives goals from six main players led by Jess Angerman's 28. Angerman also leads the team in assists with 14, giving her 46 points on the season. Anna Schueler has 31 goals and seven assists for 38 points. Kim Coughlan (30 goals), Lauren Oberlander (21), Tess Korten (19) and Madeline Dion (15) round out the top six scorers. Dion leads the team in ground balls (34) and caused turnovers (26); Schueler has the most draw controls (44).
In net, Allison Silber has started every game, earning 129 saves while allowing 190 goals.
THE PENN STATE-MICHIGAN SERIES
Penn State and Michigan have met just twice; once in each of the past two seasons. The Nittany Lions took the inaugural contest by 13 goals over the first-year Wolverines in 2014. On April 9, Penn State defeated the Wolverines 11-5.
All-Time Series: Penn State leads 2-0
PSU Streak: 2 wins
First Meeting: 3/23/14, PSU 20-7
Last Meeting: 4/9/15, PSU 11-5
Last PSU Win: 4/9/15, 11-5
Last MICH Win: n/a
Largest PSU Win: 20-7 (3/23/14)
Largest MICH Win: n/a
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
Should Penn State win to advance to the final, the Nittany Lions would take on either top-seeded Maryland, fourth-seeded Ohio State or No. 5 seed Rutgers on Sunday at Noon. The final will air on ESPN3.com with a tape delayed broadcast on ESPNU.
Sunday will also have the NCAA Selection Show revealing the 26-team bracket. NCAA.com will host the show at 9 p.m.