UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; September 9, 2018 – The Penn State Nittany field hockey team (3-2, 0-0 B1G), ranked No. 5 in the NFHCA Coaches Poll, fell victim to a strong second half from No. 4 Duke (4-2) in a Sunday morning game played at Temple in Philadelphia. The Lions were outscored by three in the second half and lost a 4-1 neutral site game to the Blue Devils.
The game began with Duke pressing Penn State with some early offense, reeling off three shots in the opening minutes that were pushed back by senior goalie Jenny Rizzo (Hershey, Pa.) via two saves as well as a block. Penn State steadily reversed the early flow of the game and moved the ball down to the Duke side of the field, getting a handful of shots of its own that were stopped by Duke goalie Sammi Steele with two saves.
The Nittany Lions drew first blood, however, as their offensive pressure lead to a penalty corner at the 19:18 mark that led to the game's first goal. Senior Katie Dembrowksi (Palmyra, Pa.) took the corner, moved the ball right to Madison Morano (Hammonton, N.J.) who stopped it and set up freshman Anna Simon (Hanau, Germany) for the score at the 15:37 mark. Duke would answer shortly after that, however, tying the score at 1-1 when Rose Tynan knocked the ball past Rizzo as it bounced off a Lion defender from outside the circle at the 10:45 mark. The teams battled evenly for the remainder of the opening half and entered the intermission knotted 1-1.
The first half was very evenly played. As the game ebbed and flowed neither team could establish overwhelming momentum. Duke ended the opening 35:00 with a slight 7-6 shot edge. Each team had four shots on goal and each keeper had three saves. Penn State had four saves to three for the Blue Devils.
Penn State began the second half by forcing a penalty corner less than three minutes in. Moira Putsch took the corner, moving the ball to Simon but the shot was blocked. A second corner by Putsch to Aurelia Meijer (Hattam, Netherlands) had the Lion senior's scoot wide and the game continued knotted at 1-1. Duke took its first corner of the second half at the 41:18 and then continued to press the Penn State defense. The Blue Devils took a 2-1 lead at the 28:38 mark, with Jillian Wolgemuth knocking in a shot off a penalty corner.
Duke controlled much of the action for the next 15:00-plus minutes, building up a 15-9 shot advantage, including nine total shots on goal. Rizzo kept Penn State close, picking up four more saves in the second half's first 20:00 to up her game total to seven with much of the game yet to play. Rizzo fought off a seventh Duke corner with 11:00 to play and action moved below the 10:00 mark with Penn State still trailing 2-1.
The Blue Devils put the game out of reach when Andretta scored off an assist from Lily Posternak as Duke's offensive efforts paid off. Lion senior Moira Putsch (Media, Pa.) had a shot blocked at the 5:41 mark that would have cut the Duke lead to one, but Duke's defense held firm. Penn State began to press on offense, looking for a late rally, but the Blue Devils took advantage of Penn State's all-out push, getting a turnover and ending the game with an unassisted goal from Tynan at the 0:47 mark. The late goal made the final score 4-1 in Duke's favor.
"This was tough because we played so well in the first half, connecting as a team, moving the ball," said head coach Char Morett-Curtiss. "But in the second half, we just started watching the game instead of playing as a unit. We were thinking as individuals and you cannot do that against a good team like Duke. We had so many opportunities inside the 25 that we didn't take advantage of and that hurt us."
Duke's strong second half led to a 17-11 shot margin at the end of the game, including an 11-4 shot on goal edge. Each team took seven corners. Lion goalie Rizzo had seven saves while Steele had three for the Blue Devils.
The Nittany Lions fall to 3-2 with the loss while Duke improves to 4-2. Penn State opens up Big Ten play in its next outing, travelling to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State on Friday, Sept. 14, at 4 p.m. The Nittany Lions then battle Boston University in a game played at the University of Maryland on Sunday, Sept. 16, at 1 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Nittany Lion field hockey team online at www.GoPSUsports.com (click teams, click field hockey), on twitter @pennstateFH and on facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstatefieldhockey.
GAME BREAKDOWN
SCORING: 1 2 FINAL
#5 Penn State (3-1, 0-0 B1G) 1 0 1
#4 Duke (3-2) 1 3 4
STATS: PSU DUKE
Shots 11 17
Corners 7 7
SCORING SUMMARY (assist) -- TIME
1st: PSU – Anna Simon (Katie Dembrowski, Madison Moran), 15:37
1st: DUKE – Rose Tynan (unassisted), 10:45
2nd: DUKE – Jillian Wolgemuth (Caroline Andretta, Margaux Paolino), 28:38
2nd: DUKE – Andretta (Lily Posternak), 7:09
2nd: DUKE – Tynan (unassisted), 0:47
GOALKEEPERS: MIN GA S
PSU: Jenny Rizzo 70:00 4 7
DUKE: Sammi Steele 70:00 1 3
