Nov. 6, 2016
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| Field Hockey Complex | College Park, MD | |
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COLLEGE PARK, MD - In only the second matchup of Penn State vs. Maryland in the Big Ten Championship Game, the Nittany Lions overcame a first half deficit to claim the 2016 Big Ten Tournament Championship defeating the Maryland Terrapins (16-4) 2-1 at Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex on the campus of the University of Maryland. With the victory, Penn State (17-2) earned the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, and secured its conference-leading seventh Big Ten Tournament title.
"I am obviously so proud of this team and the tournament that they had," said head coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss.
"They fought from Thursday, Friday and today, just their composure and competitive ness today I thought they they showed a lot of maturity at the end of the game. I think Skyler (Fretz), Carly (Celkos), Emilee Ehret, those guys really stepped up. The entire backfield stepped up today which was great to see. The corner that Aurelia executed on and also Gini Bramley's goal that went from Moira to Aurelia and into Gini was just beautiful. It was great to see them finish that and then play smart disciplined defense to secure the win. I wasn't really nervous about the game for these girls because I felt they had been playing confident all tournament."
It was a choppy opening half for both teams in the Big Ten championship game the teams went back and forth with possession. Maryland broke the scoreless tie in the 25th minute as Welma Luus dribbled in from the left goal line in the circle firing a shot in that was deflected off of Emma Rissinger's stick into the cage for the lone goal of the opening half as the Terrapins took that 1-0 lead into the locker room. The Terrapins led in shots (5) and penalty corners (1) at the half as well.
The second half proved to be the difference maker for the Nittany Lions as Aurelia Meijer (Hattem, Netherlands) and Gini Bramley (Elizabethtown, Pa.) scored the two goals needed to lift Penn State over Maryland Sunday afternoon.
Meijer, a First-Team All-Big Ten midfielder, knotted the game just two minutes into the second half as she was able to convert the penalty corner with assist from Moira Putsch (Media, Pa) and the inserter Kirsten Gochnauer (Mount Joy, Pa.).
Bramley would secure the championship for Penn State with her goal in the 43rd-minute. The sophomore received a pass from the aforementioned Meijer and moving right to left launched a shot sailing high over the Maryland goalkeepers head into the cage.
Maryland would pressure the Nittany Lion defense over the final 27 minutes of the game, even emptying the goal in favor of an extra player in the field, but the Terrapins were unable to find the cage for the game tying goal as Penn State stormed the field to celebrate their first Big ten Tournament Championship title since 2012.
The win over Maryland also had a historical significance as it was the 500th-career win for Hall of Fame head coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss spanning 33 years of coaching dating back to 1984. Morett-Curtiss is third all-time in wins as a Penn State head coach trailing women's volleyball head coach Russ Rose (1,207) and Men's volleyball head coach Mark Pavlik (522)
Penn State is the only Big Ten team to win at Maryland's Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex and has done so on two separate occasions including today's win. Penn State also defeated Maryland on Nov. 11, 2007 in the NCAA Quarterfinals by a score of 1-0.
For their efforts this weekend Fretz and Bramley were named to the All-Tournament team while Bramely also took home the MVP honor as well
The NCAA Selection Show will air live on NCAA.com Sunday night at 10 p.m. ET where Penn State will find out who they will face in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
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