Sept. 18, 2015
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| Phyllis Ocker Field | Ann Arbor, Mich. | 671 | |
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Shay Cannon brought No. 18 Penn State field hockey within a goal late in the second half, but the Nittany Lions ultimately dropped their Big Ten Conference opener against Michigan, 3-1, Friday evening at Phyllis Ocker Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Michigan (5-2, 1-0 Big Ten), would surrender a goal to Penn State (2-4, 0-1 Big Ten) with 16:53 left in the second half on a shot by Cannon (Wilmington, Del.) It was her team-best fourth goal of the season. However, the Wolverines would net a third and final goal one minute, 50 seconds later to secure the win.
All three of Michigan's goals came off penalty corner attempts.
"It was a tough one," said head coach Penn State Charlene Morett-Curtiss. "They were more physical than us and we talked about that at halftime. I definitely think we became more physical in the second half, but I think they just bodied up and played a more aggressive hungrier style than us."
Michigan took a 2-0 lead into the halftime break. Its first goal came on a direct corner on a straight-on shot from Katie Trombetta to the back of the cage assisted by Mackenzie Ellis and Veerle Lubbers. The second goal came off a rebound, as Penn State goalkeeper Jenny Rizzo (Hershey, Pa.) blocked the initial shot, but Sina Lampe was able to squeeze it through traffic for the score.
"We made some changes [at halftime] that we thought were going to be more productive for us," said Morett-Curtiss. "I thought Skyler Fretz did a better job at center back throughout the game. We tried to get Aurelia Meijer the ball in the middle so she could be more of a threat with the ball, but we really need her back on the right wing and that may have taken away from our offense a little tonight."
Penn State was outshot for the first time this season, earning only one penalty corner attempt to Michigan's six, and taking only five shots to Michigan's 17 attempts. Rizzo made seven saves, while Sam Swenson made two for Michigan.
"Our midfielders just didn't really connect tonight; it just wasn't a good team day," added Morett-Curtiss. "Mary Nell Smith came in and did a nice job being feisty as did Haley Kerstetter, who came in and did a really nice job on our defense, she added a nice spark for the team."
The Lions will face Kent State in a neutral site game tomorrow at Michigan at 4 p.m.