Oct. 22, 2017
| 7 | 1 |
| IU FH Complex | Bloomington, Ind. | 313 | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - No. 6 Penn State (14-3, 6-2) scored seven unanswered before yielding a Hoosier goal as the Nittany Lions topped Indiana (6-12, 0-8) 7-1 Sunday afternoon at IU Field Hockey Complex.
"Indiana is a very young team, but they fought very hard throughout the game," said head coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss.
"I think out team took sharp control from the beginning in the first-half and we were able to just build on that momentum into the second-half. The energy the players off the bench brought was really important! It was great to be able to spread the minutes today to be able to keep the energy going for 70-minutes," Morett-Curtiss finished.
Katie Dembrowski found a gap in the defense connecting with Moira Putsch who used a spin move to evade a defender and find the back of the cage to put the Nittany Lions up by one in the sixth minute.
a short five minutes later, Putsch would score again, this time redirecting a Maddie Morano shot making it 2-0 in the 11th-minute. The second goal of the game was set up by a key turnover forced by the suffocating Nittany Lion defense.
Abby Myers led the charge for the third goal dribbling the ball down the field before passing to Emily Klingler who redirected to Mary Nell Smith who finished the job, scoring her fourth-career goal to make it a three-goal lead for the Nittany Lions in the 19th-minute.
Penn State found the cage one more time in the opening half to make it 4-0 off the stick of Emily Klingler who took a shot from Katie Dembrowski and tapped in the rebound a few feet out on the right side of the cage.
Penn State held a 4-0 lead at the break, but wasted no time adding to the day's total.
Out of the break, the Nittany Lions needed only three minutes before Shay Cannon tapped in a rebound off the left post to make it 5-0 early in the second half.
The sixth goal of the game went to Skyler Fretz, a senior back and team captain playing every minute of every game this season, who converted a penalty stroke for her first-career goal extending the Nittany Lion lead to six.
Putsch, who had already scored twice in this contest notched her third of the game and made it back-to-back hat tricks for the junior All-American from Media, Pa. as the Lions held a 7-1 lead over Indiana. Every active Nittany Lion on the roster saw double-digit minutes today as Penn State used a balanced attack.
The lead would hold as Penn State earned its 14th win of the season and closes out the regular season 14-3 overall.
Penn State will be back in action Sunday, Oct. 29 at 12 p.m. when the Nittany Lions host a Big Ten First-Round game at Field Hockey Complex vs. Iowa. The winner of that game will advance to face the winner of Maryland vs. Michigan State on Nov. 3 at 1:30 p.m. in East Lansing, Mich.
For more on Nittany Lion Field Hockey, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter and Instagram at @PennStateFH, and on Facebook at PennStateFieldHockey.