April 12, 2017
| GAMEDAY PREVIEW | |
| 13-1 (3-0 B1G) | 7-6 (3-0 B1G) |
| Thursday - 8:00 p.m. ET | |
| MARTIN FIELD | EVANSTON, Ill. | |
| GAME DAY CENTRAL |
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| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | NU | |
| 13-1 | Overall Record | 7-6 |
| 3-0 | Conference Record | 3-0 |
| 204 | Goals Scored | 135 |
| 130 | Goals Allowed | 130 |
| 14.57 | Goals Scored/gm. | 10.38 |
| 9.29 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 10.00 |
| 470 | Shots | 386 |
| 33.6 | Shots/gm. | 29.7 |
| 88 | Assists | 54 |
| 41-122 | Free Position Shots | 38-106 |
| 113 | Saves | 115 |
| 18.71 | Ground Balls/gm. | 18.23 |
| 15.21 | Draw Controls/gm. | 13.54 |
| 15.14 | Turnovers/gm. | 16.46 |
| 9.36 | Caused Turnovers/gm. | 8.31 |
EVANSTON, Ill. - The fifth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions travel to Evanston for a top-20 showdown with the No. 16 Northwestern Wildcats on Thursday evening at 7 p.m.
THE MATCHUP
- Northwestern controls the all-time series 20-7 dating back to 1984 in a game won by Penn State 16-6.
- The Nittany Lions won four of the first five meetings between the two schools before losing 18 straight from 2004-2014.
- Penn State had won three consecutive matches before the Wildcats earned a 9-6 victory last season in the Big Ten Semifinals at Martin Stadium.
LAST TIME OUT
- Penn State defeated No. 15 Virginia 12-8 behind eight second half goals while senior goalkeeper Cat Rainone held the Cavaliers to just a pair of second half tallies.
- Junior Katie O'Donnell collected her fifth four-goal game including three in the second half.
- Sophomore Madison Carter kept her goal streak alive at 22 consecutive games, but was held to just a single goal for the first time this season.
DON'T RAIN-ONE ON CAT'S PARADE
- Senior net-minder Cat Rainone is having a career season between the pipes for Penn State compiling a 12-1 record in 13 starts so far this season.
- Rainone was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season on Tuesday after a career-high 14 save performance in the win against Virginia.
- The senior currently ranks second in the Big Ten in both save percentage (.484) and goals against average (9.05) only behind Maryland's Megan Taylor. Those marks also rank 23rd and 18th in the nation, respectively.
- Rainone has stopped 110 shots this season to rank fourth in the Big Ten and tied 24th in the nation.
THE BIG THREE
- The trio of Madison Carter (49), Steph Lazo (39) and Katie O'Donnell (37) is the highest scoring combo in all of women's lacrosse with 125 goals combined on the season.
- Carter leads the Big Ten and ranks sixth in the nation with her 49 tallies while Lazo and O'Donnell rank fourth and fifth in the B1G and 24th and 32nd in the nation, respectively.
- The Nittany Lions are one of only eight teams to crack 200 goals so far this season as their 204 rank second in the Big Ten and eighth in the nation while their 14.57 goals per game place them second in the B1G and 15th nationally.
- Penn State is also outscoring their opponents by 5.29 goals per game this season while being one of only two teams to reach 13 wins so far tying Maryland for the top spot nationally.
SHOTS FIRED
- Penn State loves to shoot the ball and their 470 shots this season lead the Big Ten and rank seventh nationally while their 33.57 shots per game average places them second in the Big Ten behind Maryland and tenth in the nation.
RANKING UP AGAINST THE BEST
- This marks the seventh game this season Penn State will be facing a ranked opponent and they are 5-1 in such games so far with their only loss coming against then-No. 10 Colorado, 16-11, on March 12.
- With such a strong strength of schedule, the Nittany Lions sit at No. 3 in the latest RPI rankings only behind defending national champion North Carolina and Big Ten rival Maryland who are one and two, respectively.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
- Northwestern comes into this contest tied for first place in the Big Ten with both Penn State and Maryland as all three teams are 3-0 through the first-half of conference play.
- The Cats are 7-6 overall, but have won four of their last five contests since a tough 17-12 setback to No. 2 UNC.
- Northwestern is just 1-5 this season against ranked opponents losing their last five after defeating No. 8 Notre Dame 14-13 back in February.
- The Wildcats struggle offensively as they rank last in the seven-team conference averaging just 10.4 goals per game. NU has just two players with more than 20 goals this season as Christina Esposito leads the team with 33 and Danita Stroup has added 25.
- Mallory Weisse has been solid in cage all season for the Cats starting all 13 games turning in a 9.89 goals against average and a .471 save percentage.
- Northwestern is third in the conference in shots and ground balls averaging 29.7 and 18.2 per contest, respectively. However, their shot percentage of just .350 ranks last in the Big Ten.
NEXT UP
Penn State returns home for a top-ten showdown with the top-ranked Maryland Terrapins at 7 p.m. next Thursday evening. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.