UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lions (9-4, 3-1 Big Ten) won a 4-3 thriller over the Ohio State Buckeyes (4-9, 0-5 Big Ten) at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex on Friday night.
The Blue & White battled OSU for 75 minutes before the contest came down to a shootout that PSU won, 3-1, thanks to a deciding score from sophomore Lara Pyle. The victory extended the Nittany Lions’ winning streak to six.
Sophomore Olivia Marthins led the way with two goals on a team-high five shots. She is up to eight goals on the season, second on the squad behind junior Ella Gaitan with nine. Pyle notched the first goal of her career in the second quarter to open the night’s scoring. Graduate student Sienna Dunn assisted the first Marthins goal. Junior goalkeeper Aby Deverka tied her season-high with nine saves.
FIRST QUARTER | PSU 0 – OSU 0
Penn State owned much of the possession in the opening frame of action that proved to be a defensive battle on both sides as the Blue & White held. Marthins recorded the first shot of the evening for the Nittany Lions just over seven minutes into the contest. Her strike found the Ohio State keeper’s pads to keep the game scoreless. With around four minutes to play, the Buckeyes blocked a shot from Marie McCracken. That was the last shot of the frame as the two sides would go into the break deadlocked at 0-0.
SECOND QUARTER | PSU 1 – OSU 1
The Blue & White earned the first penalty corner of the contest just seconds into the period. Lilly Holmes’ shot was saved on the attempt as the Nittany Lions battled for the opening goal. It did not take long as Pyle notched the first goal of her career two minutes and 40 seconds later after Marthins sent a shot off the Buckeye goalie. Ohio State earned a penalty corner just a minute later. Deverka saved the first shot she faced before the Buckeyes equalized on the rebound. OSU had another penalty corner with 2:41 to go that was shut down by the Nittany Lions to keep the game even at the half.
THIRD QUARTER | PSU 2 – OSU 1
Penn State earned its second penalty corner of the game just over three minutes into the quarter. Gaitan rifled a shot off the post after the stop and insert. Pyle came in to clean up the rebound, but her shot was blocked by a Buckeye defender. Ohio State secured consecutive penalty corners later in the quarter with Deverka stopping a shot on the second try. The Blue & White retook the lead with 5:42 left in the frame as Marthins registered her seventh score of the season thanks to assist from Dunn. Neither side would record a shot for the remainder of the quarter before Ohio State picked up a green card as time expired.
FOURTH QUARTER | PSU 3 – OSU 3
Ohio State earned a penalty corner with 8:57 to go. The Nittany Lions challenged but were unsuccessful before Deverka saved the shot. The Buckeyes would tie the game shortly after with just over five minutes left in regulation. Penn State emptied the cage to bring on an extra attacker with four minutes of action remaining. The team earned a penalty corner with Gaitan’s shot getting saved by the Buckeye goaltender. OSU was issued a second green card with 2:12 to play. The Nittany Lions utilized the two-woman advantage to secure a penalty corner with 19 ticks left on the clock. Following an Ohio State challenge, Gaitan fired a shot that was saved before Marthins tallied her second score of the night on the rebound to send the game to overtime.
OVERTIME PERIOD | PSU 3 – OSU 3
The overtime period featured a flurry of penalty corners for both sides. Ohio State quickly recorded three straight chances with Deverka saving the two shots she faced during the corners. Penn State recorded two corners of its own but could not find the back of the cage. Neither side would find the golden goal after 15 minutes of free field hockey to send the game to a shootout.
SHOOTOUT | PSU 4 – OSU 3
Penn State won the shootout, 3-1. Gaitan and Dunn opened the shootout with goals as Deverka would shut down three of the four Buckeye attempts in a phenomenal display of goalkeeping. Pyle lined up the deciding goal on PSU’s fifth shootout attempt with her shot giving the Nittany Lions their sixth straight victory to the roar of the crowd on hand at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex.
UP NEXT
Penn State will be back in action on Sunday, October 18 at noon against the No. 18 Michigan Wolverines at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex. The game will be streamed on B1G+ and the Nittany Lions will sign autographs after the action concludes. As always, games at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex are free to attend.
Visit GoPSUSports.com for the up-to-date information on Penn State Field Hockey. Fans can follow Penn State Field Hockey social media on Facebook at /pennstatefieldhockey as well as Twitter and Instagram @PennStateFH.