Nov. 12, 2016
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| Field Hockey Complex | University Park, Pa. | |
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| FINAL STATISTICS |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In NCAA Tournament First-Round action, No. 4 seed Penn State (17-3) fell to No. 14 Princeton (11-7) 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at Field Hockey Complex. Sophomore Aurelia Meijer (Hattem, Netherlands) scored the lone goal for the Nittany Lions with less than four minutes left in the game.
"That was the best defense we've seen all year," said head coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss. "They [Princeton] did a phenomenal job of taking away lanes that we wanted to attack."
It was a slow first half as both teams combined for 10 shots and five penalty corners. The teams were tied at five a piece in shots, but the Nittany Lions lead the Tigers in penalty corners 3-2.
"They [Princeton] definitely came out stronger," said Sophomore goal keeper Jenny Rizzo (Hershey, Pa.)
Princeton got on board first in the second half as Ryan McCarthy gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with her 13th goal of the season.
Princeton extended their lead to 2-0 as Caro Cat scored on a short shot from the right side of the cage.
A corner insert from Moira Putsch (Media, Pa.) and a stick stop from Kirsten Gochnauer (Mount Joy, Pa.) set up Meijer for a clean shot to the back of the cage cutting the Princeton lead in half with three minutes left in regulation. Penn State was unable to find a goal in the final minutes as Princeton advanced to the Quarterfinal of the NCAA Tournament.
Penn State recorded 16-or-more wins for the 17th time under Morett-Curtiss. It also marked the squad's 31th all-time NCAA appearance, tying them for second all-time with Old Dominion.
The Nittany Lions 78 goals on the season tied for fifth all-time equaling the total amassed in the 2011 season.
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