UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lion field hockey team (6-4, 1-1 Big Ten) earned its first ranked win of the Hannah Prince era against the No. 19 Lafayette Leopards field hockey team (9-2, 3-0 Patriot) in overtime on Sunday afternoon at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex, 3-2.
After both teams staying at even at zero apiece for the first three quarters, a series of goals from both sides tied things up in the fourth period, forcing an overtime period that left the Nittany Lions victorious. The Blue & White had the shot advantage seven to six while the Leopards held even with the Nittany Lions in penalty corners at three each.
Penn State’s offense was led by the pair of goal scorers in Olivia Marthins and Cam Standish with the former notching both goals in the fourth and the latter scoring the golden goal. Lilly Holmes, Ella Gaitan and Sienna Dunn each recorded an assist while goalkeeper Aby Deverka secured a pair of saves while facing four shots.
FIRST PERIOD | PSU 0 - LC 0
The first period of action from the Penn State Field Hockey Complex saw only four shots split evenly between the two programs. Dunn marked the first shot of the game while Gaitan got the second shot of the period for the Nittany Lions with both ending up being saved. Deverka matched the effort by the Lafayette netminder with two saves of her own. The first period played out with back-and-forth possession from both sides, before it concluded with a scoreless result.
SECOND PERIOD | PSU 0 – LC 0
The Nittany Lions saw only one shot in the second period by Gaiten. Pressure from the Leopards was heavy, and they kept control of the ball for a majority of the period. Despite that, Penn State was able to remain strong on defense, giving up only one shot. The second period ended with another scoreless result from both teams.
THIRD PERIOD | PSU 0 – LC 0
Similarly to the first two periods of play, the third period saw only one shot by both teams. Control of the ball went back-and-forth on both sides for most of the period, with each team playing strong defense and allowing minimal opportunities at the net. The Blue & White’s defense only allowed shot happened in the early moments of the period but remained strong throughout the rest of the period to hold off the Leopards.
FOURTH PERIOD | PSU 2 – LC 2
Both offenses were able to convert on opportunities during the fourth stanza with four goals scored between the two teams. Lafayette was able to score the opening goal by hitting a soft spot in the Penn State defense, but the Nittany Lions were able to answer in kind. Just over a minute later, Marthins scored the first Penn State goal off an assist by Freeman and Holmes. Seconds later, Marthins was able to score again and forced Lafayette to run an empty net. With under three minutes, Lafayette was able to equalize the game off a penalty corner to push the game into overtime, the second overtime game Penn State has played this season with the first coming against Virginia.
OVERTIME PERIOD | PSU 3 – LC 2
In a do-or-die situation, the Nittany Lions came out hard to start the final 15 minutes of play from the Penn State Field Hockey Complex. Penn State forced a penalty corner at 11:40 but was unable convert; however, the Nittany Lions were not deterred. The Blue & White secured another penalty corner not long after. Standish inserted the penalty corner with Dunn stopping and Gaitan launching a volley that nearly went wide, but Standish was in prime position to place the shot in the back of the net off the rebound.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will be back in action from Ralph Young Field in East Lansing, Mich. on Friday, October 9 at 3 p.m. against the Michigan State Spartans. Fans can stream the contest on B1G+.
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.